Undertale - The Surface Saga
by Iai-gami
Summary: After Frisk helped to free the monsters from the underground, not everyone is happy with the way things turned out. 8 years on, monsters still struggle to live among humans. Follow Lyra, the mysterious young girl with monster strength, along with the horrific past she hides...with a little help from an unexpected and forgotten friend. Follow her adventures through time...
1. Chapter 1

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

 _After Frisk helped to free the monsters from the underground, after everyone was happy to be free, finding a place in the humans world proved difficult for some monsters. Finding places they could call home, finding sanctuary among those who inhabited the surface, they had troubles on both sides. There were those who had begun to live amongst some groups of humans in peace...but then there were the monsters who sought revenge upon the race that had trapped them for years. This...is Undertale...the Surface Saga._

...

As a red car can be seen hurtling down the motorway, Sans and Papyrus talk of the recent goings on as Frisk sleeps across the back seat.

"Hey bro... you like the humans, right?" Sans asked as he looked out across the sea, their car passing over a river as it led out to the big blue.

"What brought this on all of a sudden, Sans? If the great Papyrus didn't like humans, how would I have been able to make a friend like Frisk? They sees us for who we are." He replied in an almost nonchalant way, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Well, that is true...but if you think about it, not all the monsters who were freed from the underground by Frisk are as happy about their new life on the surface as we are." Sans replied, not looking at his brother as he found comfort in looking out the window.

"Nyes, well, we did expect some humans to be resistant...but to think it would get to the point where it would cause conflict and strife, even Undyne is hating it." Papyrus replied as he turned around a long bend, their house peeking out from behind a hill.

"And she used to be the type to bring the violence to a party. I guess you could say she was a... BONE-fied genius at it." Sans replied, making a bad bone pun.

"Nyeeeeh! Sans! Did you really have to-" He said before Sans shushed him to be quieter as Frisk stirred in their sleep from the loud noise. They remained quiet until they got home when they put Frisk to bed, their face covered with an expression of exhaustion as they sleep soundly.

Sans thought to himself.

 _Welp...even though they're old enough to take care of themself now, they haven't moved away or gotten tired of us. That little trooper's had a such a huge responsibility since we came into their world...and yet, they never let it show._

Coming downstairs, Sans and Papayrus joined Undyne, Alphys and Toriel around the television as they watched the storming local news story.

 _"As you can see here, a brawl broke out in the late hours of last night. It's uncertain but it is being theorised that this many have been the work of two monsters. Many people were injured and several buildings destroyed but no casualties have been reported so far. This has also been the latest incident as others have previously been reported in various locations, however, this has been the closest to the reported location of where the monsters had first been seen emerging 10 years ago."_

Everyone looked to Undyne.

"I don't know why you're all looking at me, I wouldn't go around looking for a fight...but you know, it has been a while since I had a good brawl with some knuckleheads." She said with a wide grin as she punched her fist against her palm.

"W-w-well, n-no one we know i-is strong enough t-to do th-this kind of d-damage, r-right?." Alphys said, nervous as always.

"After 8 years, you'd think that things would have settled down by now. It saddens me to see the world at odds this way." Toriel said, a look on her face that looked like she was about to burst out in tears.

"Hey now, don't go soft on us, Toriel. Everything will be just fine. For I, the great Papyrus, shall help to resolve this matter." Papyrus replied, chest puffed out with a finger in the air.

Sans saw his chance for a pun "Welp, that's the end for us. Guess we're BONE-d."

"SANS!"

Everyone looked to the TV as the reporter continued.

 _"Furthermore, this just in. An injured girl from this scene has supposedly been kidnapped from hospital. A broken window is all the police have to go on as no one was seen entering at the designated time of the incident but from the angles of the broken glass, it can be assumed that the window was broken from the inside, with the medical instruments still running. Though her age and name is unconfirmed, her approximated age was about 8 years old."_

"Wha-" Sans reacted in surprise.

"Th-that's no k-kidnapping." Alphys devised, looking closer at the screen as it showed the hospital window.

"That's one strong kid." Undyne looked on in surprise. Everyone looked to the stairs as their talking had woken Frisk.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry we woke you, Frisk." Toriel commented as she gave them a hug, her monstrous build still towering over him even though they were sixteen now but they didn't mind the hugs.

"Hey there kiddo, you were soundo when we got back. You sleep so well, you can do it with your eyes closed." Sans said giving the teen a high five as Frisk chuckled at his pun.

"Really Sans?"Papyrus complained, looking at him with disappointment.

"Old habits die hard bro." He replied nonchalantly as he shrugged.

Frisk sat down as they watched the TV as it showed the image of the 'brawl scene' and the window of the hospital. Gasping in surprise, he pointed to the chair in the hospital room. As everyone looked closer, they saw a small amount of dust on the edge of it...monster dust.

"Just what is that kid?" Undyne asked, on edge and uneasy at the development.

"Only one way to find out." Frisk said, remaining quiet until it was the right time for them to speak up.

"Not right now, my dear. It's the middle of the night. That goes for the rest of you too. We've all stayed up long enough. Let's try to get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a long day." Toriel said, clapping her paw-like hands and shooing everyone off to bed.

"I'll be up a while more, Tori..." Sans replied, flopping on the couch.

"...and I just woke up so it'll be a while before I sleep again, mom." Frisk finished as they sat beside Sans. Giving them both an understanding look, she went upstairs to bed, leaving the two of them alone.

"So, I know something's on your mind kid." He said, noticing the frown on Frisk's face.

"It's not normal." They said almost as soon as Sans had finished talking.

"Kid, make like a dog and find 'sense'. Spell it out for papa bones." Sans said, putting an arm around Frisk in comfort.

"Even Chara didn't have that much strength. Whatever that girl is, she isn't human." Frisk said, tears welling up in their eyes.

 _Heh. They're still the same kid I met in Snowdin 8 years ago._

"I know, kiddo. I know. But kid, I don't see why this is bothering you so much. They didn't even show her face so we have no idea where to start looking." Sans replied, not exactly sure what to say. Even after all those years, it was still difficult to deal with some emotional situations.

"You always know what I am thinking…Puncle. Heh, thanks." Frisk said, giving Sans a hug as his comparatively huge hand wiped away their tears. He continued "I just want for humans and monsters to live together on the surface. In peace."

"If it's information you're looking for darling, I believe I can help you there." Came a familiar voice from behind them. Looking up at the back of the couch, they saw Mettaton posing fabulously as if he were at a photo shoot for one of his musical tours.

"You can?" Frisk asked, sniffing a little as Mettaton handed them a tissue.

"Of course darling. Anything for my fabulous little angel. You don't think I get around just for music tours do you? I have many fans darling, I could ask anyone of them. Hell, I could ask them all. I'll be sure to ask my fans if they know anything on my official website. The internet is so useful up here. Well...chow darlings, I'm going to recharge for the night." And with a ruffle of Frisk's hair, Mettaton retired to his room.

"Welp, guess that sorts that out. You ready to sleep a little more, baby bones?" Sans asked as he helped Frisk off the enormous couch. Being built for monsters, Frisk seemed to almost be lost in its huge cushions.

Frisk smiled gently, giggling a little.

"Dad, I'm like 16, do you have to?"

"Always kiddo."

A/N Italics are for either character thoughts or for narration.


	2. Chapter 2

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

The morning after, Papyrus, Frisk, Sans, Undyne and Alphys went to the scene where the brawl had taken place, with Toriel staying behind due to there being no room in the car. Still cordoned off by the police, they had only what their eyes could see to go on. The scene was a disaster.

"It's hard to believe a small human could do this much damage. Even my special bone attack wouldn't destroy this many buildings." Papyrus said, partially in awe and in fear as he looked a little taken aback by the scene.

"My spear attacks wouldn't even come close to this." Undyne said, eyes wide and unblinking.

"T-this c-could be a w-wild g-guess here, but umm...w-what if th-the h-human who escaped the h-hospital w-was involved in the f-fight?" Alphys asked nervously, clinging to Undyne's hand.

"That would make even less sense for one thing." Sans replied.

"None of this makes any sense at all." Frisk spoke up, their face looking frustrated.

They all looked at each other confused, each question they posed just leading to more puzzling questions.

"Nyehehe! I know what'll cheer everyone up." Papyrus piped up, seeing everyone's glum faces as they tried to make sense of a situation where there was little to make sense of.

"Oh?" Sans asked, curious of what his brother was about to suggest.

"We could go and ask Mettaton if he's heard anything from his fans. His event isn't far from here, right?" He suggested, making everyone's glum faces seem a little more cheery as Frisk smiled amongst them.

"Th-that m-may help us m-make sense of all th-this." Alphys replied, still clinging tightly to Undyne's hand.

"Let's go." Frisk said as they led the way, knowing the streets almost by heart after they had been pulled along with the skele-bros when Papyrus had suggested a day out previously and had ended up coming back here over and over again, coming home with bags upon bags of souvenirs every time. Sans hadn't minded but he had just been in it for the hot dogs and ketchup. The memories made Frisk smile to themself.

As they were about to leave, Sans' magic began to fluctuate, his left eye glowing blue. As everyone began to walk off, he turned and saw something that he knew could be physically impossible. There, in the middle of the scene, was a spacial anomaly. It was small, invisible to the naked eye, but his magic had made him see it.

Everything fell seemingly silent as he heard two quiet words.

"Help...me."

"Sans? You ok?" He heard Frisk ask as the teen held his bony hand, letting the others carry on ahead of him as the kid looked at him with worry.

Closing his eyes and disengaging his magic, he turned to Frisk.

"You kiddin' kid? Like good steak, you might say I'm RARE-ing to go." Sans replied, making Frisk giggle as they followed behind everyone else.

(Later, at Mettaton's event)

As the group look to the stage from a balcony, Mettaton appears through a cloud of smoke.

"Well, hellooooooooooooo darlings." He announced, greeted by a loud screaming of the audience as they lost control of themselves in throes of ecstasy.

"A little birdy tells me that some of you fabulous darlings saw the scene from yesterday. So I am personally inviting those few back stage after this to-" Before Mettaton could finish, a small explosion could be heard before the rigging split from the ceiling. The audience got out of the way before it hit the floor, leaving nobody injured. Mettaton was trapped under the heavy metal bars, struggling to push them off even with his strength. The lights lay smashed upon the ground.

"Did someone say they were looking for me?" An malevolent voice sounded from the darkness, an evil laugh accompanying it. Frisk's skin crawled at the noise as the whole room went dark, feeling around for Papyrus or Sans. Tripping over as they felt around blindly, they looked up as a red flame appeared out of nowhere, lighting up an evil looking face for a brief moment. Sans' blue eye lit up in the dark, sensing the dark presence but was too slow to grab them. The flame disappeared, reappearing above the stage where a child, a little girl probably no older than 8, hovered, her eyes completely black. Bringing up their right arm, they launched the flame like a rotating wheel of fiery bullets, their target being the pinned Metatton. Quick as lightning, Undyne and Sans jumped in to deflect the attack, each sending back one of their own.

"How dare you try to stop me!" shouted the girl as she looked at their attacks unamused, her face expressionless.

Though it seemed like they hit something, the girl disappeared again, reappearing next to Sans. Seeing her move, Sans summoned his Gaster Blaster, shooting it at the girl before Undyne had time to react to what was going on. Dodging blast after blast, the girl seemed untouchable, until one of the blasts managed to rip open her right sleeve, leaving a small cut as it raced past her.

"It seems this body is beginning to reach its limit...useless girl." She said to herself, continuing "You got lucky, punk...but next time, don't think you'll be so lucky!"

Using several more fire attacks, she created a distraction to get away. In a flash of flames, she disappeared, this time nowhere to be found. As Papyrus, Alphys and Frisk made it to the stage, everyone helped to lift the heavy rigging off of Mettaton. As Frisk looked on at where the girl had last disappeared, a little shaken by the sudden experience, they felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay, kid?" Sans asked, turning Frisk to face him.

 _In the 8 years I have known this kid since what happened in the underground, I've never seen them so shaken. They've always been...smiling._

Taking a moment, Frisk looked into Sans' eye sockets and gave a small but unconvincing smile. "I'm alright." They said, looking out to the now empty hall as it burned "You could say it's **fired** me up a bit."

"Oh for the love of..." Papyrus said to himself, face palming as Frisk and Sans giggled together.

Meanwhile...near a river in a nearby forest on the edge of the city...

"You useless girl!" A gruff, growling voice said as he threw the girl's body against a tree. He stood towering over her, his huge form intimidating and his shadow blocking out the sun as it came through the leaves in the treetops. Standing up, she looked him in the eyes, saying nothing. He looked like a giant black weasel with a white underbelly, fuzzy but by no means cute looking as two demonic looking horns stuck out of his head, his claws scarily long and his fangs like that of a sabre-toothed tiger. His eyes were black as night as they glared at the girl in anger.

"I made you to serve my purposes! You belong to me! When will you learn that...you insolent little shit!" He slashed at her but she did not dodge. Standing there, she took everything his anger towards her could muster. Slash after slash, bite after bite, energy ball after energy ball...everything. She stood her ground, her eyes burning with an independent defiance.

"Looks like you've had enough punishment for today. I'll come for you when the next experiment is ready. Don't even think of running away, I can sense you anywhere...remember that brat." He gave her mangled and broken standing body one last look before he ran off faster than the wind.

As she stood there, she thought she was hearing the birds getting gradually louder. Blinking slowly, she attempted to sit down but only succeeded in fainting from blood loss. She didn't feel the ground as she fell but as the last sliver of her consciousness faded, she felt someone stop her back from hitting the ground as she fell into the realm of her dreams. She couldn't open her eyes but she knew everything would be dark, all she could see was darkness.

 _The same as every other time I dream. There's nothing here._

"My my." Came two unsettling words from the darkness. She tried but couldn't move as her body laid unresponsive in the dark. She felt her heart beat faster.

"Who's there?" She asked, her voice barely more than a whisper as her eyes still remained closed.

"A friend." Was the only response. She felt her head being propped up as she felt two hands, one on either side of her face.

 _This is the first real contact I've ever had with another living being since I was born. Just who is this man?_

She laid there enjoying the company of the man of few words, her heartbeat slowing to normal again.

"I find it strange..." said the man, the girl realising his voice was rather shaky.

"Wah?" The girl replied, confused at his sudden comment.

"Your soul." He replied.

"My soul?" She asked confused, her eyes still shut.

"It is neither monster...nor human." He said as she felt him lean forward to touch his head to hers.

"Tell me something I don't know. I am nothing but the end result of experiments to combine human determination and monster magic. My very existence is...wrong." She felt her stomach knot and her heart sink, the depths of her sadness unmeasured as flashbacks of her life appeared before them.

"This is...your life?" The man asked, removing his forehead from hers.

"If that's what you want to call it." She replied, frowning as she remembered a particularly gnarly memory. Her mother's death flashed in her mind, making her grimace in emotional pain.

"Are you...alright? I sense your soul's pain...It fills this place." He said with worry, his hands still holding her head as she shed a single tear.

"What is...this place?" She asked, her strength beginning to wane.

"This is everywhere...and nowhere. This is time...and space itself. The Void." He replied, beginning to remove his hands from her head.

Feeling him leave, she felt the need to ask him for a favour.

"If this is the void, then...can you do something for me? Take me...someplace...safe...from...him."

"I can try. Are you prepared for this, my child?" He replied as he lifted his hands. The space warped around them and she felt a pain within her grow. She didn't scream as she felt her soul tearing apart.

"Yes. Who...may I...thank?" She asked with the last of her strength, feeling herself slip from the reality of the void, subconsciously feeling the ground under her body before she heard his response, the last of her soul fragments separating across space and time.

"Child...remember me. I am...W...D...Gaster."


	3. Chapter 3

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

After the fight was over with the mysterious girl, Sans, Papyrus, Frisk, Alphys and Undyne went home where Toriel and Frisk cooked dinner for everyone as they talked over what had happened.

"I still can't believe it. How can one small human do so much damage? And using magic no less. Only monsters should be capable of that. Since humans sealed us underground, the true art of magic has since been lost to them. The best they can accomplish now are probably parlour tricks." Papyrus said as Frisk handed him a bowl of beef casserole.

"What I can't believe is how such a child crashed my event. All my darling fans were looking forward to seeing me perform. Now I feel like I let them down." Metatton said, head in hands and sighing sadly. Frisk put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, bringing at least a small smile to the former ghost's face.

"I wanted to dish it out some more! That kid...running off like that ticks me off!" Undyne shouted, surprising everyone in the room as she took a large swig of water from her glass.

Sans sat quietly on the couch thinking to himself as Frisk handed out the rest of the food. Sitting down next to Sans, Frisk held out their hand to pass a bottle of ketchup to him. Not noticing him, Frisk tapped him on the head with the end of the bottle, getting his attention.

"What's up, Sans? You look like you're thinking rather hard." Frisk said, placing the ketchup bottle in his hand. Looking up, his face looked like he was half asleep.

"It's nothing kiddo. Papa bones is just a little tired. Don't worry 'bout it." Sans replied, taking a half assed swig at the ketchup bottle. After dinner was finished, Frisk took the plates and left Sans with his half full ketchup bottle. Leaving everyone to their own devices, he went outside for a walk to clear his head, putting the cap back on the ketchup bottle as he slipped it into one of his huge pockets.

 _This doesn't make any sense. I mean, a human...with a monster's magic? And that spacial anomaly...where did it come from? The only person who should capable of leaving those behind is me and that's only if I cross timelines...but that's an especially big no-no, even for me._

Hearing a rustling of leaves, he activated his magic almost by reflex and braced himself for an enemy. A rabbit popped it's head out of the pile of leaves, looking at Sans in curiosity for a moment before hopping away.

 _A rabbit? Man, I guess the situation must be_ _ **hare-y**_ _for me to be this jumpy._

Deactivating his magic again, he looked up at the moon for what seemed like hours to him. Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in his magic, though it was faint. Looking around slowly, he saw nothing at first but looking closer, he saw a ghost like skeletal face, its figure hidden behind a bush. Recognising the figure, he ran towards it. Checking behind the bush, the figure had seemingly disappeared but moments later reappeared further into the forest, a faint whisper echoing a name across the wind.

"Sans..."

Recognising the voice, Sans ran to find it. He knew that voice from somewhere, somewhere in his past, in his dreams, but thinking about it gave him more of a headache than he already had. He ran down the forest path, slipping and sliding on the partially damp soil. Finding himself in a clearing near the bottom of the hill, he looked around. His eye sockets focused on what he thought was a ghost of a skeletal looking monster before it disappeared before his eyes, leaving the body of a child behind. He ran to the body and turned it over, jumping back as he saw her face, his magic activating out of anger. It was the same girl that he had seen during the attack.

Then he paused.

Something didn't feel right.

Feeling the area where her heart would have been, he felt a faint presence. Revealing his own soul, the girl's remaining fragment resonated with it, barely holding on as it's broken form attempted to keep the girl's life force flowing. As he looked at her broken existence, he couldn't identify it's colour or traits as a monster or human soul. Confused at what he was seeing, Sans felt torn.

 _Why should I help this kid? She attacked us and left many others injured, not to mention she left downtown in pieces._

"Sans..." came the whisper again.

"Wh-who's there?" He asked nervously, looking around to find the owner of the voice.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend, Sans? Turn around...and shake my hand." W. D. Gaster stood there behind him, a hand extended as he looked the short skeleton in the eye sockets, for what seemed like an eternity had passed since they had seen each other last. Turning and taking his hand, Sans looked at the ground in conflict with his emotions.

"Friend... I sense your anxiety. It is...understandable...but...she requires your assistance desperately. Her soul hangs on the very verge of death." Gaster began, getting straight to the point.

"What happened to her?" Sans asked the phantom as Gaster put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, coming to stand next to him.

"From what I can determine...what you saw today...was not this child." Gaster said, turning his head to look Sans in the eye sockets.

"Not her? But she was right there. She attacked us and tried to kill Metatton. You can forgive me if I seem hesitant to help a homicidal maniac. Even if it is just a child, Gaster." He replied, a frustrated scowl spread across his face as he became both confused and angry, recalling the event with agitation.

"There was...another." Gaster replied. Waving his hand through the air, a mirage appeared of the monster that had injured the young girl so badly.

"What is it?" Sans asked, curious as to what Gaster was trying to tell him.

"Of that...I am uncertain...but...this is the cause of the child's pain." He replied, gesturing to the injuries on the girl's body, continuing "To save her...and prevent the reoccurrence of her possession...she asked me to help...I have separated her soul into several fragments...spread across the space time continuum."

"What?! That should have killed the kid! Just what is she to survive something so inhumane?" He asked in surprise, his magic beginning to analyse her soul, it's reaction similar to how the human immune system attacks a foreign pathogen as he held his blue eye in pain a moment.

"This...can only delay him. It was the only way...to avoid the possibility of this monster getting his hands on her again. Intriguing...isn't it...Sans?" He made the soul fragment rise from her body, looking at it with awe.

"Is it...viable?" Sans said as he felt the fragile fragment in his hands. A buzz of magic met with his own, accompanied by a feeling that was similar to when he was around Frisk. It felt strange, not quite giving off the same warmth a human soul would. Sans just stood there, feeling lost and confused.

"Until now...it was believed to be physically impossible...at least...by natural means." Gaster said, half sighing as he took the broken soul from Sans, returning it to the girl's body.

"Natural means? You mean she wasn't brought into this world the normal way human children are usually?"

"Quite. She is the result of experimentation...with human determination...and monster magic as the two key compounds of her existence." Gaster replied, seeming a little sad as he explained.

"So what does it want with her?" Sans asked, looking up again at the weasel like creature's mirage that still hovered in the air.

"Of that...I am uncertain...but...I would choose to be wary of it, Sans...Farewell...my friend." With that, Gaster vanished, leaving Sans and the girl alone.

(sighs) "You were always one for making a confusing situation into an enigma...Gaster." Sans walked over to the girl's body, picking her up and carrying her back up the hill, using his teleporting abilities to get back to the house quicker since he was too tired and lazy to walk up the slippery slope. Knocking on the door, he called out for help. As the door swung open swiftly, Toriel stood there with a worried expression her face, covering her mouth as she saw him holding the wounded and barely breathing child.

"Alphys!" Toriel called, the former royal scientist running out of the door in a whirlwind of worry. Looking at the girl a moment, she stepped back in fright as she saw her face, a look of fear spread across her face as she trembled.

"I know how you feel Alphys...but it's not what you think it is. I'll explain everything later, just help her. Please!" Sans pleaded, feeling the unease in the air as Undyne's eyes fell on him.

"Ummm...o-ok." She replied, hesitantly looking the girl over. Opening one of the girls eyes, she looked at the empty expression a moment before closing them again, then moving to check her pulse.

"B-b-bring her d-downstairs. I'll g-get a ummm...bed ready. Ya." As she was about to rush downstairs to her lab, Undyne caught her arm.

"Undyne?" Alphys asked, a little scared as a look of murderous intent crossed Undyne's face.

"That girl attacked us and nearly ended Metatton. Do you just expect me to help a human who's true intent was to kill us?!" She shouted in fury, summoning a shining spear from nowhere, her eyes burning to kill. Papyrus attempted to hold her back.

"Nyeh! Calm down, Undyne! I know how you feel but let's trust him on this one! You know Sans as well as I do...he knows when something is wrong and I am willing to stake my life on his decisions." Papyrus said as he struggled to hold back Undyne's immense strength. Undyne stopped squirming, still holding the spear in her hand as she let Sans past.

They hurried to Alphys' lab where she hooked up the girl to the human life support systems she had stored previously. As the oxygen was distributed throughout her body, her heart rate began to stabilise, her breathing becoming slightly stronger. Running out of the room, Alphys hurried back with bandages and ointments to clean the girls wounds, grabbing a small reel of spider thread, nodding at her decision to sew the wounds shut with it. Sans left the room to let Alphys work, knowing she'd be anxious enough without him there.

 _I hate to use the present Muffet gave me for something like this, but normal surgery thread won't be able to keep these wounds shut. I hope she understands._

Cleaning the various claw marks across the girls chest, she noticed their haphazard, deep and aggressive pattern, wincing at how much pain she imagined the child in.

 _It'll be over soon, I promise._

She stuck the needle into the sides of the wounds as she took her time sewing them together with small stitches. It took several hours before she had finished, once again cleaning the wounds to prevent infection before she called Frisk in to help her bandage the girl. They grimaced at the horrible wounds on the girls chest before hesitantly taking the bandages from Alphys as they began winding them around the girls chest together.

Everyone joined them after Frisk and Alphys had finished, Papyrus rushing in with a spare duvet, covering the girl as she slept soundly.

Leaving her to sleep, Sans relayed what Gaster had told him to the others, not revealing who had told him about the girl. They stood there with jaws gaping as they stared at the girl in wonder, astonished at her existence.

"I-it sh-should be a umm...a physical i-impossibility. To do s-such a thing i-is..." Alphys piped up, still unsure of how the girl had come to exist.

"...a feat in itself. However, it does go against the very laws of nature. A 'halfling' shall we say, should not even exist. Are we even sure it's safe to keep her here? The people who created her...may come looking." Metatton piped up, finishing for Alphys as he voiced his own opinions.

"Welp, until we can get to the bottom of this, I'd say we leave her to it and we get some rest." Sans replied, looking at everyone's tired faces as a few of them yawned.

"I agree, Sans. The great Papyrus needs his beauty sleep! Nyeh he he!" Papyrus said as he ran up the stairs in a cheerful run. For once, Sans felt tired, but he didn't feel like sleeping with Toriel (A/N Sans and Toriel are a thing). Taking a seat on the couch, Toriel kissed him goodnight and he high fived Frisk as the kid made their way to bed. Sans shut his eyes as he thought to himself.

 _Ugh...what a day. First we're attacked, then we find out our attacker wasn't even our attacker, then I find out the attacker wasn't even human at all. Each mystery leads to another mystery. It's really makin' my head spin. Maybe if I can see that spacial anomaly that I saw today again, I can find some answers. My magic should be able to sneak a peek inside. Those troublemakers aren't caused randomly, there has to be a reason for them to appear like that. Guess I should try to sleep. Even a little snooze could give these bones better ideas in the morning. Worth a shot I guess._

As Sans drifted into the realms of sleep, he found himself in a dark place, unable to see anything but darkness. He had seen this place once, in a dream before he had to help Frisk in the underground. He had seen flashes of Frisk's genocide run when he had been possessed by Chara, leaving him with rattling bones and haywire magic the morning after. He hadn't slept for several days after that dream but once it had happened and everyone had been killed by Chara, all of it was reset, he had met Frisk again and this time helped the kid to complete a pacifistic route through the underground. That's how they all came to be on the surface.

 _Is it possible Frisk is resetting? After all this time, I thought the kid was happy._

He was soon proven wrong as the girl appeared to him in his dream. She seemed distant, her back turned to him as she floated there silently. It was like she didn't want to talk to him, purposefully ignoring him. After what seemed like an eternity, the girl spoke in a quiet voice...but he heard what she said.

"Scared. So...scared."


	4. Chapter 4

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

"Scared. So...scared."

...

The morning after, those words rang in Sans' mind like a loud bell. He had felt her pain, her soul weeping as if she was really crying. It was almost melting with sadness, touching his own soul as he felt a tear fall from his right eye socket, reaching up to wipe it from his face.

 _It had felt so...real._

Frisk paused as they were eating their cereal, looking at Sans with a questioning look. Noticing, Sans looked up.

"What's up baby bones? You're looking at me like I'm a piece of meat." Sans said, making a piece of Frisk's cereal float in front of the kid's mouth as he snapped them out of their thoughts.

"You just seem to be...more out of it than usual, Sans." Frisk replied, eating the floating cereal before continuing "I worry about you. Mom worries too. If there's something on your mind, you could always tell us, ya know..." Frisk trailed off as they looked into their bowl.

"If it helps for you to know baby bones, the kid downstairs just makes me uneasy. I'm not exactly the most trusting man but after what I heard last night, I have reason to worry. It's nothing a bonefied lazybones like me can't handle."

Frisk still looked at him with a worried look.

"If you're still worried Frisk, do you want to come with me downstairs?" Sans asked, gesturing to the lab under their feet (in the basement) as he saw Toriel and Alphys sneak past them to go down there out of the corner of his eye socket. Nodding, they were about to head downstairs when Toriel let out a scream, the pair of them teleporting using Sans' ability to see her on the floor of the lab with a hand over her mouth as the child stood there with blank eyes, her bandages torn off as she stared into the distance at nothing. They all stood there staring as red particle streams could be seem emanating from the injured skin they had seen yesterday, her body shivering a little as she stood there, soundless.

Papyrus rushed in with Undyne close behind him as he rushed to help Toriel to her feet.

"Are you ok, Toriel? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" He asked worryingly as he pulled her up.

"I'm fine Papyrus, just a little rattled." She replied as she stood looking at the girl's blank expression, trembling at its lack of emotion.

"W-w need to b-be careful! With s-such a sm-mall amount of h-her soul, her b-behaviour will b-be more in-in-instinctual!" Alphys cried out, her hands over her eyes in fright.

Walking over to a blank wall, the girl placed her hand on it's cold surface. The room seemed to turn slightly colder as the girl's body seemed to stop shivering, her eyes turning from their gentle sea blue to a piercing vermillion. The wall seemed to melt as giant red flames burnt it away, burning all the way to the surface as daylight shone through the hole. As she took a few steps out, she felt someone grab her hand. She didn't turn to see who it was, only tugging to be let go as she struggled to go above ground. Frisk struggled to hold on as the small child had immense strength, pulling them along as her desire drove her to be free.

"Frisk dear. Let her go." Came Mettaton's voice from the back room as he stepped out into the doorway.

Frisk attempted to voice their objection "But..."

"It's fine darling. All she wants is a little fresh air. Besides, if she tries to attempt something, I have it covered." As Mettaton talked, he opened up one of his lower right arm compartments, revealing a series of tranquiliser darts. "I had them installed about two years after Frisk had freed us all from the underground. I had no real use for some of the stuff Alphys put in there anyway."

"B-but I th-thought you c-could use the m-mini storage c-compartment." Alphys replied as she put her hands together and rolled each thumb over the other repeatedly as all eyes were on her for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Frisk let go of the girl as she ran up into the sunshine. She turned around as she looked at the roof. A vermillion shroud enveloped her body as she seemed to float upwards, landing on the roof. She took a deep breath as the wind blew through her short and messy brown hair. Mettaton joined her on the roof, pulling a baggy white shirt over her head and arms. He smiled as he relaxed, taking in the warm rays as he used his hidden solar panels to absorb the solar energy. He looked up at her as he saw her sit down, bringing her knees up to her chest as he saw a single tear begin to form in her right eye, though he didn't see it fall down her cheek.

Several hours passed before she returned to the lab, a loud growling filling the room as she once again stared off into nothing.

"Oh..." Mettaton said as he giggled for a moment to himself. "Sounds like someone is hungry." The girl took in several sniffs of air, as if detecting a scent like a dog. Her head lurched upwards and she suddenly disappeared. The sound of crashing plates and a surprised cry could be heard from the kitchen. As everyone rushed in, they all saw the most bizarre thing. The girl had Papyrus pinned against the work surfaces where he had been preparing spaghetti, sniffing him all over. Undyne summoned a spear in unease, still wary of the girl and how unpredictable her behaviour could be. The girl moved to her next, sniffing Undyne up and down with speed before the former Captain of the Royal Guard had a chance to catch her, repeating this with everyone in the room all within the few moments before Mettaton came rushing in.

"Nyah! Mettaton! I thought YOU were watching the girl?" Papyrus shouted in fear, unsure of how to react to what had just happened.

"I was...but the little dear just up and disappeared after her stomach started growling and that's when I heard the ruckus from up here." He replied, giving an innocent shrug.

Sans thought to himself. _She can teleport? Interesting...but possibly dangerous if she can't use it right. With her soul in such an unstable state, it's a wonder she can do any magic at all._

The girl followed her nose and found her way to the fridge, opening the door as the sniffed at the contents.

"Oh my, the poor thing hasn't eaten since Sans' found her yesterday. She must be starving." Toriel said as she picked her up and took her to the living room. Papyrus brought in a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and the girl ate all of it before he had a chance to explain how carefully he had prepared it for her.

(A/N: By this point, Papyrus' spaghetti is now edible X3 )

After she had eaten Papyrus' signature dish, she found herself sleepy and soon enough drifted off as she leaned against Mettaton's cold metal torso on the couch.

That night, when everyone had gone to bed, Sans stayed up to watch the girl since he wasn't tired. He didn't want to disturb her sleep...but he had to. He was still unsure of the girl's behaviour. She grasped at his coat as she slept, her face looking like it was in pain.

 _Nightmares kiddo? Not surprising with you like this...but hopefully after tonight, you should be at least a little closer to yourself again._

Sans activated his magic, making a quick trip to downtown, teleporting to the scene of rubble. Looking at the spacial anomaly, he began opening it wide enough for them to walk through. As he entered, the girl woke up with a start, grasping tightly at his coat as he carried her, her eyes scared and her body trembling. Not really sure of what to do, he wrapped her in his big blue coat and hugged her, wondering if she felt anything at all without a complete soul. He was surprised to find she hugged him back, a tear falling down her cheek as her face remained unchanging.

A feeling of determination swept over him as he sensed as if someone was there with them.

"Come out, you can't hide from me." He called into the warped space. As if by reaction, a small shard that glistened with light lit up in the dark anomaly's space, it's darkness trying to smother the shard's luminescent form. Sans reached out his hand and the shard seem to magnetise to him, holding it in his left hand as he held the girl in his right. She looked at the shard and for a moment, Sans thought he saw a small hint of a smile cross her face. Taking the shard in his hand, he pushed it into the girl's chest, making her gasp in pain as the shard binded with the one already in her body. She fell unconscious in his arms for a few moments, making him wrap her in his jacket tighter as he held her close.

A malevolent laughter came out of the darkness and Sans knew it all too well. He had heard it once already and putting two and two together, he activated his magic as he waited for the dark weasel to appear. The space around them seemed to brighten a little as the large horned weasel appeared before them, white fire spewing from the sides of his mouth as a bloodthirsty look crossed his pointed face.

"I see you have found my precious subject 13. Now remove your hands from my child immediately so that I might continue my work with her." He grinned maniacally, holding out his claw like hands in expectation, his face an expression of pure malice.

"So...not only were you the one who attacked Mettaton, you're the one who did a number on this kid, weren't you?. Ya know, she really went out of her way to escape you. What drove you to almost kill her if you don't mind me askin'?"

"Oh spare me, bonebag! Family matters are no concern of yours! Now give her to me!" He ordered, getting riled up, the flames at his mouth flaring as his anger rose.

"You slice her up, beat her half to death and to top it off, she split her soul just to escape your reach. That right there..." he said, pausing a moment before closing his eye sockets. His magic flared up, opening his left eye as small blue streams seemed to emanate from a neon blue iris. "...is something a father should **NEVER** do to his children."

"And how might you know of such matters?" The weasel growled, the s' in his voice seeming to slide off his tongue like a snakes.

"Well let's just say this bone daddy has had his fair share of good days and bad days with a kid at his heels. I don't know how or why you brought her into the world...but I can't just sit by and watch as an innocent kid is hurting, on the inside and out."

"So I guess you'll make this difficult for me. Shame." He growled, opening his mouth as a black fireball formed in his open jaws. Launching it at him, Sans quickly dodged out of its trajectory as he held the girl tightly, her hands holding him close to her as he felt her trembling in his coat.

"What? You think I'm just gonna to stand there and take it?" He said, his eye glowing stronger as his intent to protect the girl grew. Summoning a blaster, he launched blast after blast at the dark weasel but his reflexes proved too fast for him to land a hit.

"You'll have to do better, skeleton. That puny pet of yours is much too slow!" He heard him shout before a fireball made contact with his back, making Sans stumble forward. Seeing him in pain, the girl hid under his coat as she searched for his soul. Finding it, she placed her head on his chest. Feeling a change in himself, the blaster seemed to grow in size, it's mouth flaring with scarlet flames. Looking down, he saw the girl melding some of her magic into his own, strengthening the blaster. It's eyes seemed to be able to follow the demonic rat as he moved at incredible speed.

"Gotcha." Sans replied. Launching a large destructive blast, it hit the weasel dead centre in the chest, making him fall to the ground as his fur seemed to smoke with blue and red flames as they burnt away at him.

"Bastard! Don't think this is the last you'll see of me! I shall return to claim my daughter and you'd better not stand in the way of my progress!" He shouted, his voice echoing as he seemed to disappear from the anomaly completely.

"Welp, I don't know about you kid...but I'm bone tired." He said. Waiting a few moments, he looked down as he heard no response. Her body had gone limp, seemingly exhausted from using her magic. She slept soundly against his chest as he rewrapped his coat around her. Teleporting home, he wrapped them both in a thick faux fur blanket as he fell asleep with her in his lap.


	5. Chapter 5

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

She slept soundly against his chest as he wrapped her in his coat. Teleporting home, he wrapped them both in a thick faux fur blanket as he fell asleep with her in his lap.

...

After the fight, the dark weasel returned to his lab, the very same he had created the girl in, crashing into the walls as he stumbled to find something to treat the damage to his body, the place where the attack had hit him still smoking slightly.

"How...How could she do such a thing?" He asked himself, his human lab assistant shaking in her heeled shoes as she peeked from behind a wall at him, unsure of what to do. "Such a feat should be beyond her capabilities." Frustrated, he ran his claws across the steel walls, ripping the metal apart with an gut wrenching sound as his assistant ran off, afraid of his rage.

"I can answer that..." came a voice, seemingly from nowhere, the weasel seeing no one as he looked around. He felt something touch his leg and swiftly turned to face who had touched him.

But there was nothing...nothing, except for a flower. A flower with a face.

"Who are you, sprout? SPEAK!" He yelled impatiently, the flames at the edge of his mouth flaring as his already intense rage continued to grow.

"Alright...impatient rat, but first I'll answer your first question." The flower spoke again.

"My earlier ques-" he began before he was cut off.

"She didn't do it. At least...not by herself. Someone who does not physically exist on this plane helped her. A non essential being if you will but he was there nonetheless." The flower replied.

"And who is this...non essential being? It had better not be you, sproutling. Out with it!" He yelled, getting more impatient as flames began to leak from his mouth, brimming to be let free as the flower tested his boundaries.

"Sproutling?! My name is Flowey, you dumb rat!" He replied.

"Whatever...tell me!"

"He was the former royal scientist for the underground before Alphys was appointed by Asgore after his incident when he fell into the void." Flowey replied.

"HIS NAME, WEED!" The weasel gave Flowey a hard stare, his dark eyes staring into Flowey's tiny, beady eyes as the plant fidgeted in unease.

"He goes by the name W. D. Gaster." Flowey replied as he looked away.

"W. D. Gaster. Interesting..." He said, turning as he pulled a sheet off a large machine with a large glass holding cell at the end of it.

"Going to try and catch him? Pfft...good luck with that. He's stuck in the void, a reality both far away and yet close to our own. You'd have to consume copious amounts of both determination and monster magic to..." Flowey stopped as he realised the expression that crossed the weasel's face, an evil sneer crossing his face. "So, you'll kill your own daughter to get what you want. Though finding Gaster won't exactly fulfil your objectives."

"My original objective was to create a human weapon capable of monster magic. I succeeded in creating that brat of a child but her DNA is far from being stable. I need more magical energy to mould her DNA. I need a pure magic monster." He replied, his right hand tapping on a keyboard with his sharp nails whilst his left held his chest in pain.

"What about if you can't stabilise her? What happens then?" Flowey asked, the very question making a shiver run up his stem.

"Then she'll die. The longer she ignores it, the more at risk she is from destroying herself. I need her for this project, I can't let the time I have put into this be a waste. I'd have to start all over again. Subject 12 was already a failure, I won't let it end here! In the end, she'll have to come to me." He yelled, determined to prove that he was ready to go to any lengths to get what he wanted.

As Flowey watched him type for hours, running simulation after simulation, he went to check on Sans and the girl. Peeking in through the ground floor window, he saw the two of them cuddling together as she sat in his lap, the both of them snoozing away as the day passed them by. Sans opened one of his eye sockets every so often to check on her before he fell asleep again. Though Papyrus and Undyne seemed unsure, they left them to their sleeping until the sun went down again. Papyrus shook Sans' shoulder gently, waking him from his sleep. Taking the girl in his arms, Sans poked her a few times, the girl rubbing her eyes tiredly as she struggled to remain awake.

 _It's like nothing even happened between them and the rat. How can they act like this? It's disgusting._ Flowey thought to himself before he left to go back to the weasel's lab.

"Hey kiddo, you feeling alright?" He asked quietly as she stretched lazily.

She said nothing as usual and was about to close her eyes again when she found a spoonful of soup in her mouth. She kept her eyes barely open as Mettaton fed her spoonful after spoonful of soup, remaining awake just long enough to eat a little of it before her eyes finally gave up and she fell asleep again in Sans' arms.

In her dream, she remembered a cherry blossom tree that she had seen when she had run away from Narsak (the black weasel) once. She remembered how the flowers bloomed as she watched the sun bring them out of their silken petalled shells. Sitting below the tree in its shade, she remembered how the wind had blew through her hair, the only comfort she had felt back then. She felt two hands on her shoulders and lifted her head to see Gaster standing over her.

"Such a beautiful memory." He began, sitting next to her as he stared at the branches above them.

"One of the better." She replied simply as she sat staring out into her memory, a plain expression on her face. A long silence seemed to pass between them before she broke the silence.

"Gaster..." She started, getting his attention.

"What is it...child?" He asked, turning his head to look at her, listening intently as he felt the uneasiness in her voice. He was surprised to find her suddenly against him, hugging him in a desperate attempt for comfort. Hesitating a moment, he brought his arms up, holding her in a gentle hug, his right hand supporting her head as she began to cry on his shoulder.

 _It has been a long time since I have held a child in my arms. Poor child...what has an unnatural entry into the world done to your fragile soul?_

He held her like that for what seemed like forever before the cherry blossom tree seemed to vanish from her dreams, replaced by an endless landscape of scarlet flames. She cried harder, clutching at his body in the hopes that he would protect her. He felt himself change a little. It was as if contact with her made him more corporeal, his body becoming more solid the more her determination and magic leaked from her body.

"Child...you must know...I am not of your world. I am-."

"...alone?" She interrupted him, finishing his sentence with an unexpected answer and not what he would have finished with originally.

He paused, looking at the girl in her beautiful ocean blue eyes, tears staining their sides as they both looked lovingly into each other's eyes a moment.

"I don't care..." She said, burying her head in his chest as he kept his arms around her, continuing "...if you're real or not. To me, you're more of a father than that creep. I just want someone to accept me...for who I am ." She gripped his cloak tight as he hugged her more firmly.

"My child...though I cannot stay on your plane of existence for long...I will try. For your sake...I will be there when you need me." He replied, talking in a quiet voice in her ear.

"Just knowing that is enough to make me happy." She said, smiling with a kind of relieved smile. Holding her firmly, Gaster's magic flared, his eyes glowing blue and orange. Looking up as he held her in his arms, he saw an unwanted intruder. Summoning his own blaster, the intruder soon left, his presence weak as he looked at the pair of them with angry eyes before making himself scarce.

"Now...child...you must return to your body. Sans is waiting for you to wake up again...and I think it's about time you and him have a long heart to heart chat."

"If he had a heart, you mean." She replied, hearing him chuckle as she left her dreams. She opened her eyes, seeing Sans sleeping above her, his big blue hoodie still wrapped around her. Sliding gently out of his seemingly huge arms, she opened the front door and going outside, stared up at the moon. She felt sad for some reason but when she thought about it, all it did was give her a headache. Holding her head in pain as she fell to her knees, she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She saw Toriel as she looked up, smiling a comforting smile in her attempt to make her feel better.

Sweeping Toriel's hand off of her shoulder, she walked off into the woods alone, her bare feet feeling the soft dirt between her small toes. Hurrying after her, Toriel followed along behind her as made her way up to the top of the hill, the view of the night sky the clearest at its bare peak. Laying down on the sweet scented grass for a while, she stared out into the dark night filled with stars. Sans suddenly appeared at Toriel's side, remaining silent as he just watched. The girl didn't notice they were there and stared at the stars, becoming one of them as she spaced out. Napstablook seemed to appear out of nowhere, headphones on as he also stared up at the stars. Eventually, after a few hours, Toriel and Sans left. Happy and sure that the girl was in safe company, they left Napstablook and the girl alone as they returned home holding each other's hands. Holding out her hand without saying anything, Napstablook looked at it warily. The girl smiled with a certain peace of mind.

He floated over to her as she held his incorporeal body in her arm as they both watched the world pass them by. As if the night had passed by in a matter of minutes, the sun began to rise and chase away the stars and Napstablook along with it before the girl could reach out her hand to stop him. Returning to the cabin and knocking on the door, she waited for a response but none came.

 _Did they go out?_

She waited in the shade of a tree as she waited for them to return, counting the spiders that crawled past her as she tickled each one's back, making them dance a little in excitement and surprise. Eventually, a group of them came back, carrying what looked like a doughnut and a small cup of tea upon a delicate but ornate looking saucer. Reaching out, they offered for her to take it as her stomach rumbled loudly. Taking the doughnut, she ate slowly as she thought about what had happened between her and her father since she had been born.

 _Why does he want my magic? I just don't understand..._

Sipping the tea, she felt a little better as the liquid filled her stomach with a warm feeling. Finishing them both, she placed the teacup on the saucer again, nodding at the spiders as she smiled in thanks, not realising that there was someone watching her from a distance.

Rainclouds gathered quickly as the spiders skittered away to a nearby cave. Being small, it was her only chance of staying dry so she ran for cover as the rain began to pour down relentlessly. Looking further in, she saw stalactites and stalagmites everywhere. The cave seem to shine a pretty amethyst colour as she looked around at all the gems lining the walls, still in their raw and natural state. Getting out of the cave entrance where the water seemed to stream down into a small pool, she followed the spiders, being careful not to step on any of them. As the entrance widened out into a cavern, her eyes widened at the sight. There were sparkling cobwebs hanging from the ceiling that seemed to gleam like diamonds. Amethyst and quartz shards lined the walls like lanterns and a collection of the same crystals in the ceiling reminded her of a chandelier. She felt the presence of someone's eyes on her and she felt a little uneasy.

"Ah! I did hope you would join us for tea. My little dears told me you were hungry. I couldn't refuse when they had told me how sweetly you had treated them. It's not every day that we have guests."

Five pairs of jet black eyes revealed themselves from behind what looked like a large armchair made of natural occurring quartz. Hands slid slowly over the top of its ornate crystals, their nails painted a light violet. Spiders came down on silvery strings to surround her, their dark, beady eyes gleaming in the light. A short woman with two little fangs protruding from her upper lip grinned a sweet smile.

"So my dear...care to stay for dinner?"


	6. Chapter 6

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

"So my dear...care to stay for dinner?"

A young lady stood before the girl, a teacup in one hand, a teapot in another as she nibbled on a croissant using a third arm. Shivering a little from her cold clothing, she nodded as the spider woman invited her into what looked like a dining room and living room all in one. Bringing her a hot cup of tea, the girl sipped as much as she could of the hot liquid without burning her tongue to warm herself up. She took off her soaking wet shirt as she found a black blanket draped over her shoulders as she huddled her knees up to her chest for extra warmth. Muffet looked at her sewn up wounds, recognising the silken string as her own as she stared a moment.

"I do apologise, my dear. I do not believe we have been introduced. My name is Muffet. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said, reaching out her 3 right hands for her to shake. Returning her kindness, the girl shook her hands. They were soft, almost like minky as Muffet's fingers, which were very small and spindly like a spiders, seemed to slide smoothly into her palm. After they had both had their fair share of food and drink, the spiders turned on a gramaphone as they made their way into yet another large but empty room aside from a bench of rose quartz lining the far wall, the floor almost flawlessly polished quartz. A song began to play through the aged speaker and as Muffet listened to its gentle, moving tones, the girl held out her hand to her.

 **(A/N I would recommend that you listen to the song linked at the bottom of the page that I found to match these next paragraphs. I do hope you enjoy.)**

"Oh? You wish to dance. I must apologise. I do not know how to dance with a partner. Besides, this music isn't really the type to..." Muffet started, stopping midsentence as she held a hand over her mouth, a little shy. She realised the girl was giving her no choice as her hand remained unmoved. Shyly taking her hand, she looked at the girls face. A strange smile crossed the child's face but somehow, the expression did not scare her. If anything, it made her want to dance more. Letting the girl lead, even though she was smaller than her, the room seemed to light up in a crimson red as they danced. Other couples seemed to manifest themselves from the red, dust like magic particles as they weaved their way across the floor, their faces hidden beneath ornate masks as if masquerading. Small gems in the ceiling reflected back at them like stars, entrancing the pair of them in a world of their own as they continued to dance the day away.

For the first time since she had left the underground, she had finally found another human who had come to accept her as she was besides Frisk. The spiders gathered to watch as their mistress smiled brightly, her five eyes tight shut as she seemed to beam with happiness. Though the music was not happy, it's slow piano music seemed to rule how her feet followed the girl's as they swept across the floor in a smooth and soothing dance. They both seemed to lose track of time and all too soon, the music ended. The other couples disappeared and the spell on the pair of them dissipated, leaving them standing together in the dark. Neither said a word as they stood smiling at each other. The distant sound of the rain had ceased. The girl gave a curt bow to Muffet, turning to leave as she left her partner alone on the dance floor, astonished and in a daze as she smiled after her.

Making her way out of the small cave entrance, the clouds had begun to disappear as the sun fought its way through.

 _Surely they must be home by now_ she thought to herself. Walking out of the woods and following the stream, she eventually found her way back to the house. Everyone was outside calling for her, even Alphys.

 _They were this worried?_

She felt a familiar presence behind her. Knowing who it was, she turned to smile up at him. His bony hand ruffled her messy hair as they walked back to the house together.

"We were looking for you everywhere kid. We went back up the hill but couldn't find any trace of you. Tori feared the worst when it started to pour. It kinda put a dampener on the whole situation. What happened?"

She didn't know how to sign so instead locked her thumbs together and wiggled her fingers to imitate a spider.

"With Muffet, huh? Haven't seen her in a while. Personally, she bugs me. And the doughnuts are a bit hard."

As the girl walked a little ahead of Sans, he looked at her hair, noticing it was longer than earlier.

"Hey kid, your hair grows pretty fast. If it doesn't stop soon, things might get hairy." He joked, making her grin like an idiot with him.

Suddenly, several explosions sounded from the house, blowing board and beam alike into the air. A vicious, howling roar resounded through the forest as Sans and the girl saw a large black ferret floating above the house. An evil grinned was plastered on his face as he engulfed the house in black flames.

"No!" Sans shouted in worry. "Kid, you wait here! I'll be right back."

Teleporting away, she saw him reappear as he ran into the burning building. She grasped at the bark on a nearby tree in worry as he didn't reappear after several minutes. Running a little up the hill, she was stopped by Gaster's illusory form. His hand was outstretched, a piece of her soul residing within it. She looked at him a moment, hesitating whether she wanted to take it. The determination her soul was giving off seemed to get the black weasels attention as he flew towards them, a black fireball forming in his mouth. Shaking her head intently at Gaster, he gasped in surprise as he disappeared along with the soul fragment just moments before the weasel breathed out the black fireball, growling in anger as he stared down at the girl. Looking up, the girl's eyes widened when she saw what he held in his hands. Two of her soul fragments were embedded in his fur. She felt the small amount of her soul inside her twitch uneasily. As she ran for the burning house, he cut her off, turning the entrance way and porch into nothing more than a pile of ashes. She stared through the wall of flames, worried for Sans and the others. She thought to herself, idea after idea passing through her head as each seemed to fail.

 _I'm alone._

Mustering a little magic, she jumped into the air, attempting to tackle Narsak. Too slow to take the fragments from his grasp, she found herself being strangled as he caught her small neck in a tight grip.

"So...you thought splitting your soul would keep you safe from me? Well you were wrong. It has made me more powerful than before. I should be thanking you, but you're so pathetic in your current state, I wonder if it's even worth keeping you alive." He said, his voice a low growl as he grinned widely. She struggled to breathe as his grip on her grew tighter. Summoning what magic she had left, she hit him in the face with a red bolt of lightning, drawing his attention away long enough for her to take one of the fragments. Hitting her away blindly, he didn't realise one of his fragments was missing until he saw her push it into her chest, a flash of red passing through her eyes at the moment she absorbed it.

"About time. Having so little of my soul was frustrating since I couldn't talk." She said to herself.

"Grrr...insolent brat! I made you! You should be obeying my every whim! Do you want to end up like Twelve?!" He asked. Gaster was watching from a distance, confused at what Narsak was referring to when he said "Twelve". Seeing the girl's reaction, he took it as if it was a person.

"Even if I did do that, you'd still treat me like crap! You killed him! He tried to make you happy! He did everything you asked of him! So...why?! Why did you kill him?!" She screamed, tears falling down her face in streams as she thought back on her past.

"He had outlived his usefulness. Besides, he showed little to no promise in progressing my experiment...unlike you." He replied, readying another fire attack.

"That's it?! You killed him because he wasn't useful to you anymore? Is that what humanity is in your eyes? Nothing but garbage waiting to be thrown away like they're nobody's business?!" She yelled back.

The response was a jet of black fire shot directly at her. Having no magic left, she moved very slowly, taking almost all her physical strength just to move her legs.

 _I can't dodge it!_

She called out for help.

Suddenly, a wall of orange flames appeared in front of her. It barely managed to hold back the black flames but as it began to wane, luminous spears appeared and bombarded Narsak with their merciless assault, along with a shower of bones.

They had responded.

Sans, Alphys, Papyrus, Metatton, Toriel and Undyne stood in front of her, slightly charred from the black flames that had engulfed the house.

"Are you guys alright?" She asked.

"So you can talk, huh kid? What was with the silent treatment?" Sans replied, his left eye glowing blue as Papyrus stood behind him, his right eye glowing a golden orange.

"Heh! You almost got burnt to a crisp and you're worried about us? Crazy kid." Undyne said, a glowing spear in her hands as she stood in a battle stance.

"The attack did take us a little by surprise. We were looking for you when we returned to the house to see if you had come back. Then the roof exploded into a mess of black flames and we couldn't get out. But luckily, I, the Great Papyrus did not panic. Nyeh heh...heh." He finished, coughing and spluttering as Sans looked at him with worry, patting him on the back.

"Let's finish this. The sooner I know that I don't have to worry about if my soul has or hasn't got a purpose or future in this world, the better."

"Kid, you got guts. I'll give ya that much." Undyne said, putting a webbed hand on her small right shoulder.

"I-I-I'll h-help out a-a-as m-much as I c-can." Alphys said, shy as always as she hid behind Undyne.

They all looked up as Narsak began to laugh, his voice reverberating through the air as he made their ears hurt.

"Such pathetic monsters! Do you know what that child behind you really is? Do you know what danger you are trying to protect?! Just what that girl really is. What you are harbouring is an abomination! She is neither human nor monster, a mistake of nature that I intend to correct!" He growled as he sent several black fireballs their way. Toriel barely managed to step in and stop them with her own fireballs as Papyrus moved in with another bone attack, the marrow filled missiles hurtling through the air at high speed towards the dark weasel.

"Darling, if we cared about every little detail of our friends, then we wouldn't have any friends at all! What makes this little sweetie different is her shining brightness in the dark! So kindly leave her alone." Mettaton shouted, a shower of electric sparks dancing through the air as he unleashed his own attack, shocking Narsak midair and leaving him steaming.

Before Sans had time to move in and back them up, he heard the girl cry out. Turning fast, he saw her covered and held aloft by a large number of thorny vines. A familiar flower stood grinning as he got close to her face, maniacally laughing as he squeezed her harder and making her struggle to breathe.

Frisk came running from the forest, stopping between Sans and Flowey.

"Stop it Asriel! This is not who you are!" They shouted at Flowey desperately.

"That is not my name!" Flowey yelled back, flinging a vine angrily towards Frisk. He braced for impact but Undyne blocked the attack, seemingly unfazed.

"You should have stayed in the forest Frisk. You would have been safer there!" Frisk's attention was solely focused on Flowey, not hearing Undyne's warning. Taking baby steps, they were soon out of the range where she could protect him.

"Be careful kid." Sans warned, a blaster at the ready just in case.

Frisk stopped in front of Flowey, looking him dead in the eye.

"Huh? What's that look for? Do you want me to kill her?" He asked, again squeezing her tighter as she cried out in pain. It took everything Sans had not to fire his blaster then and there but he stopped himself, trusting Frisk's decision.

"You won't..." Frisk began.

"Huh?" Flowey asked, confused by Frisk's comment.

"I know you won't. I know deep down in there is someone I can call a friend. A friend that both me and the monsters from the underground owe our freedom to." Frisk paused "Asriel...I know you're in there, and I know this isn't you but try to fight through. Try to remember us, Asriel!"

Suddenly Flowey began to hold his head in pain. He cried out, gripping the girl as tight as he could in reaction to the pain. The girl couldn't breathe and her eyes had started to close from the lack of oxygen, unconsciousness beckoning her. Whilst Flowey was preoccupied, Sans launched his blaster at the connecting vines. Though they proved effective at causing damage to Flowey, his grip on the girl didn't loosen.

"S-Sans." The girl said weakly "shoot directly at me."

"Wha?! But that'll kill you! I can't!" He yelled back.

"If you don't, you'll all be in trouble, and I can't live with that. I'm deadly serious here, shoot me!" She yelled, her strength fading fast.

Sans was torn as to what to do. He looked over his shoulder as Papyrus, Toriel, Alphys and Mettaton were barely managing to hold back Narsak. Then he looked back at Frisk. He nodded as he got out of the way. As Sans primed the blaster shot, Flowey's eyes shot open as he felt the large build up of magic.

 _I hope I know what I am doing_ the girl thought to herself, barely holding onto consciousness as Sans fired the blaster, it's shot aimed directly at her. Realising the danger, Flowey evaluated his options fast.

 _If I don't drop the girl, I'll be killed by that smiley trashbag. But if I wait and hold onto her, not only will she die from the blast but I'll be killed by Narsak for losing her. I have no other choice, they've forced my hand!_

Flowey's vines dropped her barely conscious body just in time to avoid the blast. She coughed and spluttered as she gasped for air, breathing deeply as she attempted to remain conscious. Undyne ran in to protect both her and Frisk as they helped the girl to her feet. Flowey gritted his teeth at being outsmarted and without a word, vanished underground, leaving no trace of his presence behind.

Turning to face Narsak, the dark weasel with a deathly glare and snarling expression without warning, vanished into thin air. They all panted in exhaustion, Frisk still holding the girl steady as she wobbled a bit on her feet from being light headed. They all stared at the pile of ashes that once been called home to many of them, the looks in their eyes one of loss and sadness like it had just been ripped from their very souls.

"I did this..." She began but was interrupted by Mettaton as he towered over her.

"You did nothing, Darling. This whole mess was caused by that unsightly weasel!" Mettaton replied, putting a hand on her right shoulder.

"Yea, about THAT weasel. He's technically, kinda my...creator." She said, hesitating and slowing her words as she painfully spoke them. They all looked at her in shock, taken aback by the frightening fact. "I know right? You wouldn't think at first glance that the evil bastard shares my genes."

"Him?! And you?!" Sans asked, shock plastered all over his face, the smile usually plastered on his face gone as he attempted to process.

"Yup. You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family, am I right? Although, with all the shit that weasel put me through, he's more of a faggot than he is a father."

"What a dirty mouth! Those are some naughty words coming from such a young child." Toriel commented, a hand over her mouth in surprise.

"Eeeeeeeeh, I don't much care what comes outta this mouth as long as it ain't vomit. That weasel deserves every insult under the sun!" She replied, getting a little angry as she thought back to her past, remembering nothing but pain.

"W-well, now th-that the fight's o-over, sh-shall we g-get started on a new house? W-w-we'll n-need somewhere t-to call home after all." Alphys suggested.

"Of course! And I think another room should be added for our new addition to the family." Mettaton replied as she ruffled the girl's hair.

The girl looked up at everyone. Uncontrollable rivers of joyful tears flowed from her cheeks as they all cheered and laughed together, happy and content.

 **A/N Okay, since you can use links on this format since HTML banning is being a butt, go to Youtube and type in 'Sad Piano Music - Melancholy (Original Composition)'. That's the song you need.**


	7. Chapter 7

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

The girl looked up at everyone. Uncontrollable rivers of joyful tears flowed from her cheeks as they all cheered and laughed together, happy and content.

Since they had nowhere to call home, Sans hit up Grillby's and they spent the night at his new place which he had turned into an Inn as well as designing the place with the original restaurant layout from the underground. To Sans and Frisk it brought a sense of nostalgia but to the others, it was warm and they had a roof over their heads and they were happy they were all together. Sans was the first to rise in the morning, greeting Grillby as he plonked down on one of the bar stools, a bottle of ketchup placed in front of him before he had even uttered a word to the fiery gentleman.

"Uh...thanks. Even though it's been eight years, I still wake up bone tired. Guess old habits die hard." Sans said, casually tipping the bottle back and relishing the sweet taste of the condiment.

"It has been a while, my old friend." Grillby replied back, drying off a glass.

"Yea. Sorry for not dropping in sooner Grillbz. Tibia honest, things have been heating up at home...well, if we had a house to call home." He said, his expression a little sad as he recalled the previous nights events, the memory of their house that had been filled with memories burning around him as he had looked for everyone.

"Do not worry, Sans. You and your friends are always welcome here. Say, that girl you had with you last night, I do not believe I have seen her with you before. What's her name?" Grillby asked, placing the clean glass in a cupboard.

"Huh...now you mention it Grillbz, we don't know her name either. Things have been complicated to say the least. And she's a one of kind kid...in more ways than one." Sans replied, not looking up at Grillby as he eyed the ketchup bottle in thought.

They heard the door to the diner squeak. The girl walked in, rubbing her eyes tiredly but dark bags still staining her eyes. She said nothing as she walked up the bar and sat down next to Sans, leaning forward as she folded her arms and propped her head up on them.

"Uuuuuuuuh, you ok kid?" Sans asked, forgetting about the ketchup.

"Ish. I didn't sleep at all last night." She replied as she yawned widely.

"Need a pick-me-up?" he said, offering the ketchup bottle.

"No thanks. I'll be fine. Just a bit heavy headed is all."

"Alright then. How abouts me and you go for a walk. The cold air'll help keep you awake." Sans suggested, not really giving her a chance to answer before he hopped down from the stool with the ketchup bottle in his hand.

"Umm...ok?" She replied, hopping down and slowly following after him.

After following him a little ways outside and when they could no longer see Grillby's, Sans turned to her, a serious look on his face.

"OK kid. If we are going to trust you, I need to know some stuff first. So I'm gonna ask ya few questions. About that monster...and about you. I don't expect ya to answer 'em all, just what ya want to. That ok with you, kid?" He said, looking her dead in the eye with a hand on her shoulder.

"Seems only fair. Start shooting." She replied.

"First off, how come you didn't speak to us before? If you'd have told us that you were in danger, we could have helped. I know that attack on the house wasn't your fault but..."

"I couldn't." She interrupted.

"Wha-"

"It's not that I didn't want to talk to you Sans, it's that I couldn't. My behaviour was closer to being instinctual since there was so little of my soul so talking was something I couldn't do." She started, looking down at her hands with a guilty stare.

"I guess all I wanted, was to belong somewhere...to feel safe." She said under her breath.

"Okay, next then. Who's the dark weasel and why is he so interested in you?" He asked.

"Ah...you mean Narsak." She sighed, looking at the ground in discomfort. "Well...might as well start at the beginning for that one. He is my creator, the one who made me...this." She gestured to her whole self. "He experimented to find a way of merging monster magic with a human's female egg cell. A physical impossibility of nature you'd think, but he found a way. There was thirteen attempts to create something that was capable of surviving with the combination of determination and monster magic without conflictions of both within a it's DNA. All thirteen children were born from the same biological mother. That was until I came along." She replied, starting to walk again as Sans followed her.

"The first ten either died before or just after childbirth due to imbalances. Then there were eleven to thirteen. Eleven showed promise of maintaining the fragile balance within their body, until one day her immune system began to collapse and the magic inside her turned her own body to dust."

"What about Twelve? I heard Narsak say something during your fight with him about them. What happened next?" Sans asked, his curiosity peaked by this point as he listened intently.

"Well...I still blame myself for this next part. During some tests, I overheard Narsak saying that Twelve was no longer useful to him and that he was planning to kill him to his assistant. Naturally, I escaped mid-test, making it just in time to protect Twelve." She began recalling the memories in her mind, walking faster as if it would help to get the memory out of her head quicker. Sans noticed her discomfort but remained silent.

"He had been angry with me for leaving during my test and that I should mind my own business. And...you know what? Maybe it's better if I show you." She stopped walking, offering her hand to Sans. Taking it, they teleported into a dark and abandoned ruin of a building. Waving her hand, a bubble appeared and her eyes glowed red.

"The woman in this memory is my mother. Keep that in mind, Sans." She said as her red eyes seemed to act like projectors as the memory played like a video in front of his eyes, letting go of his hand as she did so.

 _(FLASHBACK)_

Narsak stood in front of her and Twelve threateningly as his eyes filled with bloodlust, looking at Twelve like he was a lamb for the slaughter, cold and heartless.

"This isn't right. Twelve did nothing wrong! If you want to get to him, take me instead!" She cried, her arms held out protectively as she had stood in front of her sibling.

"Get out of the way, Thirteen!" He had yelled.

"No. You're not going to hurt him. He's my brother and..." She had started, being interrupted by Narsak.

"Move or die along with him!" He shouted, scaring Twelve with his harsh, deep voice as he cowered behind her.

"Make me!" She had shouted back, half in fear and half in unbacked confidence.

Narsak acted quickly. He had swept her out of the way and breathed out a jet of black flames, engulfing Twelve and leaving nothing of his existence behind at all. Looking on in surprise and disbelief, she began to cry angry tears and looked down at her left hand. Clicking her fingers, her body had begun to transform and grow. White fur grew from every pore on her body, her eyes became long and red and she grew a long white tail. Two round fluffy ears appeared on her head as her human ears melted into the fur and a long pointed snout grew out, with whiskers and a small nose that twitched constantly. Two long sabre-like fangs grew out of her mouth and two small spikes where horns were growing in appeared on her head just in front of her ears.

She let out a huge roar, shaking the very foundation of the building. She formed an enormous red fireball in her mouth, aiming it at Narsak as several more appeared in the air around her.

It took everything Narsak had just to dodge them all as he launched his own fireball at her, hitting her in the chest as she stood on her hind legs, letting out an ear piercing shriek. A woman came running out at the sound as she looked at the pair of large weasel like creatures. Her eyes widening, she ran up to the white weasel, hugging it's underbelly fur as she had screamed at it to stop.

Sans guessed that this was the girl's mother, her hair the same wavy brown as hers as he looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye a moment.

She had paused. Only for a moment, but it was there. Bending down as if to hug her mother, her expression changed from one of hesitation to one of greed and malice. Grabbing her mother with a large clawed paw, she threw her against the wall. A loud snap filled the air and her mother's body slumped to the floor, unmoving as an eerie silence filled the room within the girl's memory.

The white weasel had stopped. Looking at her mother's unmoving body, she mentally snapped. She had begun to shake her head, grasping at the fur on her head as she seemed to cry out in pain, struggling for control. Tears ran from the cold, red eyes, their unrelenting streams flowing off her white fur as she whimpered.

Narsak slammed his paw on a big red button, opening a holding cell door. Tackling her into it, he quickly tapped in the lock code as she got up to snap at him. She ran into the door over and over again as she attempted to bust open the thick glass. After a while, she stopped, curling up in a corner as she growled at Narsak who stood just outside the door, staring at her tear stained face.

Suddenly, her body began to radiate with red magic. She began to shrink back into her human form and collapsed in an exhausted heap on the hard, concrete floor. He left her and the lifeless corpse of her mother alone as he turned and left, taking one last look back at the woman and her blank eyes that stared off into nothing.

It was several hours before the girl awoke again, completely naked as her clothes lay ripped across the floor. Picking up her blanket, she had fashioned a makeshift toga to cover herself. Only then did she her mother laying lifeless upon the cold, hard floor. Running up to the glass, she placed her small hands upon it.

The enraged memories came flooding into her mind. Covering her mouth, she sobbed to herself. Realising what she had done, it was as if her very soul was pouring out in the river of tears that followed.

"W...w...what have I...no..." She said quietly. She backed up to the far wall, slumping down weakly as she looked at her mother's corpse. Her tears soon dried out and she stifled her exhausted sobs, falling asleep with regret in her eyes.

Then the memory ended.

She now sat with her back to Sans, silent as the grave as he looked on in shock at where the memory was a moment ago.

"W-what?" He asked, unable to take in everything at once.

"Do you understand now?" She said, her elbows resting on her legs as she looked into the distance, her face serious.

"I can't even..." Sans started, unable to finish.

"You don't have to."

"R-right." He said. She left him alone for a few moments as she walked outside.

 _He's going to leave me. I know it. I'll end up alone again._ She thought to herself. She looked at the floor as she heard his heavy footsteps behind her.

 _This is it, he's going to leave me._

She felt two large arms hug her from behind.

"Uhh...what are you-" she started but stopped midsentence as he hugged her tighter.

Her eyes began to flow with tears, turning to grasp at his jacket as she smiled and sobbed into its thick, faded blue fabric.

"You're a strange one kid." Sans said, cradling her head.

"You too, Sans." She said between sobs.

"But I'll let ya in on a little secret." He said "All the best people are, kiddo."


	8. Chapter 8

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

"But I'll let ya in on a little secret." He said "All the best people are, kiddo."

Her tears soon dried out and were replaced with a grin spreading from ear to ear. Sans teleported them both back to Grillby's, and stepping through the doors, were greeted by everyone else for breakfast. As they joined them, the girl pulled Sans' sleeve for her to whisper something in the area where an ear would usually have been on a human head.

He nodded.

Smiling, they each ordered their food. Not knowing what the majority of the things on the menu were, the girl went with a grilled breakfast. When it arrived, she eyed the contents of the plate. Poking the egg with a fork and runng the knife through the bacon, she was confused as to what the majority of it was. Mystified by the mushrooms and hash browns, she gave them a pass as she decided to start with the sausages, taking a bite out of one as she pierced it mercilessly with a fork.

Looking up from her plate, she saw them all staring at her.

"Umm, did I do something wrong?" She asked, thinking she was in trouble for something as she dropped the fork and the sausage along with it back on the plate.

"Oh! Not at all my child." Toriel replied, putting a spoonful of porridge into her mouth.

"Personally, the Great Papyrus would have gone for the healthier option of porridge or cereal. Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus piped up, eating his porridge with gusto.

"A grilled breakfast was the blatantly obvious choice! Although, the cooked stuff on Grillby's menu could use a bit more burning. For your first choice kid, it was a good one! I hate porridge. It's like eatin' wood shavings!"

"It's just that I've...not really eaten proper food before." She said, taking a bite out of a hash brown and forsaking her cutlery. Her eyes seemed to light up the more she ate. When her plate was empty, she looked down at it sadly. "There's no more."

"Well Darling, once it's gone, it's gone. You have to savour it or it won't last long sweetie." Metatton piped up, watching everyone as they finished their breakfast.

"Human!" Papyrus got her attention "How would you like to come out with me and Undyne today? We need to do our morning exercise and were wondering if you'd like to join us." He said, getting up from the table and grabbing a bag that had been hanging from the back of his seat which he had bought with the money he had on him earlier.

"Uhh...Sure. I guess I'll see you outside." She said hesitantly, excusing herself from the table and walking out into the cool morning air again. As she waited for Papyrus and Undyne, she thought to herself.

 _Why do they trust me? Why do they care so much?_

She felt a bony hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts and back into reality. Looking up, Papyrus towered over her with a smile.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied, half smiling in her tired state as he escorted her to the car, it being the only object undamaged from the fire.

Getting in by copying what he did to open the front seat passenger door, she climbed in slowly. Undyne clambered into the back seat, stretching out her legs across the back of the car as Papyrus told them to put their seat belts on. Looking around the car, everything seemed new to her.

"What's a 'seat belt'?" She asked, confused as this was her first time seeing the inside of a car.

"Wow kid. You're really new to this whole thing ain'tcha? Look behind your left shoulder." Undyne replied, bringing her face through the gap between the front seats as she pointed at it.

"You mean this?" She said, pulling the seat belt down and looking at the shiny metal on the plug.

"Yes. You take that end and there should be a slot on your right side. You slot it in like this." He said, showing by example. Following his instructions, she heard it click. The noise sent a shiver up her spine.

"Nyeh he he! Well then, since we're all set. Let us be off!" He said happily, reversing the car out of the car park and out onto the road with ease. She stared out of the window, in awe of how fast they were going but soon felt tired as the cars low rumble seemed to call her into the realms of sleep. Before long she was snoozing in the passenger seat and Papyrus could only sigh in contempt as he thought out loud "Just like Sans."

(an hour later)

"Human! We're here. It's time to wake up now." Papyrus' voice shook her from her sleep.

 _No nightmares huh? Guess I was so tired that they left me alone. That's rare._

Opening her eyes tiredly and rubbing them to get the sleep out, she hopped out of the car, landing on her feet shakily as her legs were still waking up. Getting her balance again, she closed the door, staying a good distance behind Undyne and Papyrus as they began stretching for a run.

For a moment, it was as if they seemed to have forgotten about her. Looking around, she saw trees everywhere as they perched this way and that around a giant field of grass. A water fountain sat in the middle of a neat little patio in the center, swapping the way it's water would leave the various spouts in the top, middle and bottom of its core. She saw the vivid colour of the flowers that had come into bloom and the children's play park at the far end.

 _It's almost too much to take in. Until now, I've never been able to see anything like this. Spending all day cooped up in an underground lab where all I did was do test after test. I was never allowed outside so when my mother brought in flowers, she would show them to me. She'd even bring back pictures if I asked. No food or drink, nor material possession made me more happy than the smile I would see on her face when we laughed together._

The sound of her mother's laughter echoed through her mind, bringing with it a feeling of regret.

 _She's gone...because of me._

She closed her eyes as she leant against the car. She didn't realise that Papyrus and Undyne had been calling her the whole time. It was only when Undyne punched the top of her head playfully that she snapped out of her daze.

"You in there kid? We're going for our run? Wanna see if you can keep up with us?" She asked, a wide pointy teethed grin.

"Guess I can try." She replied, still half day-dreaming.

"You can have a head start human. We'll give you ten seconds to run as far and as fast as you can before we start running after you." He said, getting into a starting stance.

"Ya ready kid?"Undyne asked. When she nodded, Undyne counted down. "3..2..1...GO!" She said, giving the girl a good push. She sprinted hard and fast, not looking back or counting in her head as she was determined to get as far ahead of them as she could in ten seconds.

Her mother's laugh rang out in her mind again, making her freeze in her tracks.

"Nnnngggyyyaaah!" Undyne's battle cry came from behind her. A few moments later, both her and Papyrus raced past.

She stared off into nothing. Her mother's laughter grew louder and louder in her mind until it was almost unbearable. She fell to her knees, grasping at her head, her eyes shut tight as the voices rang louder. Then they seemed to still and a single word was uttered in her mind.

"...Lyra..."

Her eyes shot open. She felt a hand on her back and one on her shoulder from her front. But before she could look up, everything went black.

"Human, are you alright? Human!" Papyrus called.

He heard no response.

Picking her up in his huge arms, both him and Undyne returned to the car, placing her on the back seat as she seemed to sleep in a restless state. She shifted constantly, breaking out into a cold sweat as nightmares plagued her sleep.

"I don't get it. What happened to make the kid like this?" Undyne asked, looking at her with worry.

"I'm not sure, Undyne. But Alphys may know. We should ask her about this as soon as we return home, don't you agree?" He asked, also wearing a worried face as he looked at Undyne from the corner of his eye, his attention mainly on the road.

"But if she doesn't know..." She started, not daring to finish that sentence.

"We have to have faith Undyne." Papyrus finished and with that, neither of them dared utter another word.

(meanwhile, with Sans and the others)

Sans couldn't get comfortable in their shared room, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't stop thinking about what the girl had told him, of what he had shown him.

 _"The woman in this memory is my mother. Keep that in mind, Sans...W...w...what have I...no...do you understand now?"_

What disturbed him most was what she had whispered to him when they had returned.

 _"Please, whatever you do, don't tell the others."_

Just that one sentence sent shivers up and down his spine, his eyes without whites as he thought seriously. If there were muscles on his face to make an expression, he would have been puzzled and troubled at the same time.

 _Why doesn't she want the others to know?_

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the room burst open. Undyne came in swiftly, both her and Papyrus out of breath.

"Paps, are you ok?! What happened?" He asked almost frantically. Before his brother could answer, he saw the unconscious form of the girl in his arms.

"Is she ok?" He asked, pulling the sheets down on her bed as Papyrus lay her on it.

Toriel, Alphys and Undyne soon joined them again, the former royal scientist rushing into the room as they gave her some space to examine the girl.

Feeling the girls head, she found no fever. Feeling the middle of her chest, she felt no anomalies in her soul, other than it being incomplete. Bringing out a small handheld device, she scanned her body, frantically tapping at the display as she umm-ed and ahh-ed as she deciphered the data it gave out.

"I see. She m-most likely c-collapsed due to a p-partial i-instability of her m-mental state. I d-detected a large m-magical imbalance in her c-cranial area. It's more t-than likely to be a-a-a case of s-serious post-traumatic stress c-caused by a p-previous trauma. It may be linked to a m-memory which her mind u-unconsciously s-sealed away to a-avoid causing f-further pain and to p-prevent full i-instability of her c-conscious mind."

Sans knew what that trauma was, but he didn't share it. He stared at her restless form as she tossed and turned in her unconscious state.

 _I know that she doesn't want to tell them her past. She doesn't want to upset them and make them treat her differently...but for a flashback to affect her to the point where she passed out, that wasn't any normal memory. There has to be more._

"Let's leave her to sleep. I'm sure she needs a good rest." Toriel suggested, gesturing to the door. They all left her alone to sleep, none of them feeling like doing anything else as they watched the sun pass overhead and begin to set.

It wasn't until early the following morning that the girl awoke with a start, heart pounding and a cold sweat covering her brow as she panted for breath.

Frisk climbed into her bed, beginning to hum a friendly little tune (A/N see below) as it seemed to calm her down. She leant against them as her breathing and heart rate slowed as she continued to listen.

The rest of them watched as Frisk's voice seemed to work a miracle, smiling as the two kids looked cute together. The girl smiled in Frisk's arms a moment before jumping out of the bed.

"Maybe you should take it easy, my child." Toriel said, getting up out of her own bed as she lay a paw on the girl's shoulder.

"I have a name..." She said, looking at the ground. "The name my mother gave to me, I remembered it...How could I forget my own name?"

"Well, spit it out already squirt! Whadda we call ya?" Undyne called from the back of the room.

"L...Lyra. My name is Lyra, I guess."

Friendly little tune - this is the 'Home' theme from the original game. I thought it would be a nice little touch of originality.


	9. Chapter 9

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

"L...Lyra. My name is Lyra, I guess."

She stared at the floor, not uttering a word. It was a few minutes before the silence was making her uncomfortable. Looking up again, they were all staring at her with starry eyes and a kind smile crossing their faces.

"Uhhhh, what's with that look?" she said, confused as she looked almost offended.

"That's a lovely name, child!" Toriel said, coming in to hug her first.

"Nyehehe! The Great Papyrus agrees!" He said as he came to join in.

"You're still a little squirt to me. But I guess it's a'ight." Undyne said, ruffling her hair.

"A-at l-least w-we d-don't h-have to n-name you now." Alphys said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Y...you were...going to...name me?" She asked, a surprised expression crossing her face as she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"O' course kid. Couldn't exactly call you 'human' for the rest of your life could we?" Sans replied. He didn't come to join the hug, but just looking at the happiness crossing his face was more than enough to set off Lyra's waterworks.

"Aww, it's ok. Don't cry." Frisk said, offering Lyra a handkerchief. It was soon wet to the touch as the tears seemed to keep flowing, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Going downstairs, Alphys had ordered them all dinner, getting a bowl of ramen for both her and Lyra, even though she was unsure if she'd like it.

Grillby had managed to get them a private room behind the main cafe for them all to eat in for the night, giving them the privacy they craved. Lyra's tear ducts soon ran dry and the noodles helped to soothe her now sore throat. She didn't touch the seaweed but ravenously devoured the meat. It was only when she had finished shlurping the broth that they all seemed to stare in surprise a moment before smiling at her.

"You really need to slow down kid." Sans said, arms up in mock protection of her appetite.

"Guess you could say I am just **hungry** for more." She replied, grinning as the broth and noodle pieces stained around her mouth.

"Oh my god! Not another punner!" Papyrus shouted from the other side of the table as he clutched his head, his expression making him look like he was ready to flip the table even though other people were still eating.

" **Water** you talking about Papyrus?" Sans asked, breaking out his own puns as he was glad of the competition.

"Sans...don't encourage them!" He said, slamming his hands on the table in refusal.

"Aw c'mon bro. You should see these puns **cumin** by now. Even if some of them are a bit **chilli.** "

"SANS! PLEASE NOT NOW!"

"If not now **Paprika** , then when? We can't **dill-y** dally when it comes to good puns."

"Aw man...hehe. Sans, you shoot off puns so fast, you could **terragon** in half." Lyra said, barely able to get out her own joke as she laughed hard, grasping at her stomach as Frisk and Toriel laughed along with her.

"RRRRRAAAAARGH!" Papyrus shouted, running off and slamming the door to escape the puns.

"Nice one kid. You really left him **saffron**." Sans said, raising his hand as they both thought the same, meeting their hands in a friendly high five.

"JUST STOP ALREADY!" Papyrus' voice carried from the other room.

"It's alright, Papyrus. We've stopped now. Gotta admit though, those puns were **Sans-sational**." Lyra called, still giggling as a huge smile covered her face from ear to ear.

"Even if it did get a little **Frisk-y** at times." Frisk said, joining in as he pointed his fingers at them like guns and blew the tops of them.

"It's OK Papyrus, I believe they've finished with their **skull-duggery**." Toriel said as the younger of the skeleton brothers peeked around the door.

"Those jokes were pretty **humerous**." Lyra said, still grinning as Sans seemed to snigger.

"Let's **throw him a bone** , kid. His food will go cold." Sans said, waiting for Papyrus to take his seat again.

Lyra wiped her mouth on her shirt, staining it.

"I do believe you need some new clothes my child. You've worn those for two days now." Toriel said, pointing to the dirty clothes.

"Is that a bad thing?" Lyra asked, looking down at what she thought were the finest clothes she'd ever worn.

"First things first..." came a mechanical voice as Metatton came creeping out of the shadows since no one noticed him walking in behind Papyrus "We need a new place to call home. We can't exactly go shopping for clothes if we don't have a place to put them, now can we darling?"

"He's right. We need somewhere to stay. Although Grillby's is nice, we do need room to spread and a place to call home." Frisk said, thinking back to all she had lost to the fire that Narsak had left behind.

"Oh! Can I help? I kinda feel bad that you guys lost your home. I want to do everything I can to help you guys get it back." Lyra said, standing on her chair so the others could see her better.

"That's a wonderful idea." Toriel replied.

"Well my pretties, you won't be building a very safe house if all of you are tired now will you. You can draw up some blueprints with Alphys tomorrow, but for now I think it's time for you all to get some z's. You don't want to ruin your complexion, now do you?" He asked.

Without any warning, Lyra had teleported. The shuffling noise above their heads soon confirming where she had reappeared.

"Welp, I guess that's the fast way. Night guys." Sans said, waving everyone goodnight as he teleported up to join her.

"Is it me, or are those two similar in more ways than one?" Undyne asked.

"Y-you're not wrong. Th-those two a-are d-definitely birds of a f-feather." Alphys replied, looking at the ceiling as relative silence could be heard from upstairs.

(Meanwhile, upstairs...)

"Hey kid. Ready for bed?"

"Maybe. I don't sleep so well anymore. I get brief reprieves every so often...but...you know how it is. I can only try." She said, sliding under the covers uncomfortably.

"Yea. I have to ask you though kid...why don't you want them to know?" Sans asked, referring to her earlier request to keep her past a secret.

"I'm not ready yet. When the time is right, they will know, but for now, I think the less they know about me, the better." She said, turning away from him.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea kiddo. He's not going to stop searching until he finds you, and that's something that could put the others in danger." Sans said, coming to sit on the side of her bed.

"That's why I'm going to become stronger." She replied, staring at the covers.

"Huh?" He asked, a little confused.

"After we've built the house, I am going to train my magic. At the moment it's a bit hit and miss without the full soul to stabilise it, so I need to find a way to stabilise it manually. Or if that's not possible, I need to find a way to increase the amount of it that I have."

"Welp, I'll help out any way I can, but the results won't **magic** themselves out of thin air. You have to be patient kiddo." He said, his tone of voice giving away his concern for her.

"Being patient may not be an option for me. If Narsak is coming for me, I can only prepare for the worst." She replied. She moved as if to move under the covers but Sans stopped her. He pulled her into a gentle embrace, a hand on her head as he comforted her.

"We're all here if you need us. Just...don't be afraid to ask for help, OK?" He said, waiting for a tired response.

But there was nothing.

Looking down, she had fallen asleep in his arms, her face peaceful as she slept.

Sans sighed, laying her down in the bed as he pulled up the covers. "And I thought I was **bone** tired. Hehe. Gnight kid."

As Lyra fell asleep, she felt a familiar pull. A warped face appeared in front of her, along with the sludge-like body that it belonged to.

"Gaster...is that you?" She asked, reaching out a hand into the darkness to him.

"My child...I am glad to see you...in better health than our...previous encounter." He said, taking her hand.

"I never truly thanked you last time. I didn't tell you my name either. I suppose I have a lot to tell you." She replied, looking solemn as she looked anywhere but at him.

"Regardless of pleasantries...my child...I am glad you are safe."

"For now. **HE** is looking for me." She said, looking at her bare feet as she continued "You saw what happened. I put everyone in danger."

"What happened was not your fault...Lyra." He said, looking down at her.

She seemed surprised at him using her true name.

"But..." she started but stopped. Gaster's goopy form enveloped her as he took her into his arms.

"It's alright." He said in a quiet voice.

She buried her head in his unstable form, bringing up her arms to hug him tightly.

"I have something to ask of you." She said quietly.

"Anything..." He replied, hugging her tighter.

She brought her head up to look into his eyes.

"Would it...be ok if...I called you...d-dad?"


	10. Chapter 10

**For all intents and purposes, this fanfiction is dedicated to Toby Fox and to all those amazing people who went through the process of creating the wonderful game that is Undertale. I do not take credit for any work that they have done and write this purely out of fun and entertainment. I am relatively new to writing so I do hope you enjoy it my darlings!**

"Would it...be ok if...I called you...d-dad?"

Gaster said nothing as an uncomfortable silence fell over them both.

"It's OK if..." She started, her eyes dropping before she was cut off.

"My child...though I cannot be there next to you in the corporeal part of this timeline...I said before...I would be there when you need me." Gaster said, abruptly interrupting her.

"So..." She started, meeting his warped eyes again, looking slightly confused.

"I would...like that very much." He said, smiling as much as his disfigured face would allow.

She hugged him again. The two of them began to laugh together, neither of them knowing why.

"Thank you." She said, still giggling in disbelief.

Suddenly, Gaster stopped laughing, putting her down and turning his back to her.

"Umm, are you ok?" She asked, worried at his sudden change in behaviour.

"Yes. It's just...I haven't held a laughing child in my arms...for many years. I miss my children." He broke down as his sobs seemed to echo around them. "I miss my sons!"

Lyra looked sadly at the floor as she rattled her brain for a solution. Then an idea popped into her head.

 _If I had helped Sans to become stronger and beat Narsak using my human side's determination, maybe there is a way to help Gaster too._

"Umm, maybe there is a way..." she said, her quiet voice music to Gaster's ears.

"Wha...what?" He asked, his face still half hidden in his hands as he turned to see her with a hand on her chin. She frowned as she sat in the endless dark, seemingly deep in thought since she seemed to miss his question.

"Give me some time." She finished, this time choosing to voluntarily but abruptly exit her dream.

"Wait!" She heard Gaster call, seeing him reach out to her, she stopped.

"What is it?" She asked, surprised by his sudden behaviour.

"I have…something to give you, my child." He held out his hand. Inside was a very small blaster-shaped pendant, along with a sleek silver chain.

"Pretty!"

"Use this only when you must. I has a limited life span…and will drain you if you use it in succession. Use it wisely…my child." He finished.

Before she could thank him, the darkness surrounded them both and she woke up. She groaned as she opened her sleepy eyes. Feeling a weight on the bed that seemed to surround her, she looked up to find Frisk hugging her in their sleep. She felt a small weight around her neck and smiled when she saw the necklace Gaster had given her. She quickly slipped it under her baggy shirt so no one would see.

Sliding out gently to avoid waking them, she slipped away and out into the night air. She ran through the woods towards Muffet's but before she could reach the small clearing before the cave entrance, she felt a bony hand on her shoulder.

"Woah! Where d'you think you're going in such a hurry?" Sans' familiar low tone came from behind her. She turned slowly to face him.

"To see a friend, is that so wrong?" She replied, brushing his hand off her shoulder as she turned to face him.

"Have you forgotten your predicament? You went outside alone. What if he comes back?" Sans argued back.

"I'd rather take that chance than be constantly hiding!"

"You're in danger out here."

"Sans, I'm in danger where ever I go. Being inside won't help to make me safer, it'll only help to drive me insane!" she shouted in his face, anger written clear as day all over her face.

"Please come back with me. We can talk this out."

"I'm just going to see Muffet, why does that **bug** you so much?" she said, smirking an angry smile.

"I'm not in the mood for puns right now kid. Just come back with me...please?" He said softly, pushing down the urge to just grab her and teleport away.

"Why?" She asked, her voice shaking as she began to back up slowly.

"Narsak knows where you've been and where you are now. You're an easy target out in the open!" Sans shouted back, walking forward as she backed away.

She turned and ran for the opening to Muffet's cave, sliding into the small hole and landing in the small puddle on the other side.

"Lyra!" Sans called after her as she disappeared into the darkness.

As Lyra walked further in, she found it oddly dark. The glow of the rocks and glimmer of cobwebs was absent from the usually glittering crystal walls.

"Muffet?" She called hesitantly.

It was oddly quiet. As she saw a spider came down from the ceiling on its invisible web, she held out her hand for it to drop down. As it landed, it began to wave it's front legs wildly.

"What is it?"

The spider pointed further in and then crossed it's front two legs, warning her not to venture further in.

Squinting into the darkness, she couldn't see a thing. Lighting up her eyes, the whole cave came into focus.

She gasped.

There…tied up, gagged and helpless, was Muffet herself. She tried to shout something at Lyra but before she could rush over to help the eight-limbed monster, she was flung into a wall, the force of the impact knocking her out. But from the corner of her glowing eye…

…she thought she saw the shape of something large and black.

 **Hi guys! Sorry for the long overdue upload. I have been rather busy with work and writers block doesn't exactly help. :/ Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed it! I hope to write more before I start my new job so stay close, and keep your friends closer. :D**


	11. Chapter 11

Sans thought he felt a thud beneath him. He initially did not follow Lyra since he was already on her bad side. He didn't want to make things worse but he was starting to worry more since she had been down there an awful long time. As he climbed down into the small hole, he couldn't see a thing. The usual calm glow of the cave was absent and the air, which had been comforting and still, now felt warm and irritated.

He looked around but saw nothing, the cave too dark to see. He felt a warm breath on his face before a rush of shadow knocked him to the floor, escaping through the small entrance. He illuminated the room with his eye just in time to see Lyra's unconscious form be taken along with it.

"Kid!" He shouted after her. He teleported outside but was far too slow to even try to catch her as he watched Narsak grin at him from high up before flying off into the night.

 _I can't track her if she's far away! I need Alphys! I need help!_

The moon and wind made him more unsettled. Teleporting back home, he opened the door so fast that it would have swung off its hinges had it been opened any faster.

"Anyone! Someone! I need help!" He shouted, rushing up the stairs to their rooms.

Frisk awoke with a start. Sans was yelling for help, something he didn't do often.

 _What's going on? Sans doesn't usually sound so…disturbed._

They looked down to shake Lyra but after a double take, they pieced two and two together.

 _Oh…_

Running out of her room, she rushed to wake up Toriel and Mettaton whilst Sans banged on Undyne and Alphys' door.

"Y'all better have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night, punks!" Undyne roared.

…

Lyra awoke slowly to the sound of beeping machines. Trying to move, her arms and legs were unresponsive. Her eyes were trying to focus as everything was hazy but it felt like her limbs were stuck in something.

They felt all too familiar.

She felt a cold band wrap around her neck and click shut, sending shivers down her spine. A helmet soon followed, along with various straps around her head as her vision began to focus. As her vision came back, she saw Narsak carrying a large metal vest. It had large wires coming off of the center and as he put it on, it fitted perfectly to her body.

 _This isn't good._

She began to struggle as much as her restrained body would allow, pumping out magic to try and force him away. The more she tried, the more she felt weaker and weaker, like it was being drained.

"Well isn't that cute. Thinking you can actually push me away? Ha! Nice try, but you aren't going anywhere this time." He pushed a few buttons. The machines around her began to hum lowly. "I told you I'd find you and bring you back when I needed you, and you separating your soul isn't going to hinder my progress in the slightest.

She gasped without realising.

 _How did he know?_

"You must be thinking 'how do you know so much?'. To tell you the truth, I never REALLY took my eyes off of you."

As she looked around the room, several small drones lined the wall. All their lenses were focused on her.

"And don't think I don't know about your friend in the shadows. His abilities intrigue me and he's been particularly hard to find, but…" He stopped to look at her, reaching under her shirt and grabbing the blaster pendant "…now I have a way to CAPTURE his attention."

She closed her eyes as her heart felt like it was in her mouth.

 _Dad…_

"Now then. Let's get started shall we?"

Narsak's paw-like hand pulled a lever down and her world seemed to grind to a halt. As the machines whined, pain wracked every nerve in her body and she let out a scream.

 _It feels like he's draining the very life out of me. If I don't do something, I'll be a dead man…but what can I do? I'm stuck in this annoying machine and the only way out is on the other side of the room where I can't reach it. My magic is being drained when I use it and the determination…_

"Argh!" She felt another wave rush through her. This time it was stronger and lasted longer.

 _With each wave, the pain is more intense. I may not be able to last much longer!_

An image of Sans passed through her mind.

"I should have listened." She said quietly to herself.

Unfortunately, Narsak heard.

"Yes. You should have listened to me. If you had…"

"then I'd have been no better off." She interrupted weakly. "You'd still be farming me for determination data, and you know it better than I do."

A niggling feeling began to grow at the edge of her mind, slowly growing into a headache.

 _Every part of me feels numb. I…I can't…even move…anymore._

"Now then, why don't we invite your friend to join us? I'm sure the void is great this time of year but…I really must insist." Narsak grinned, now eagerly growling out his words.

Pulling a series of other levers, the level of pain intensified tenfold.

Her ears were screaming, her head was pulsating and her body no longer responded to her. She felt the edges of unconsciousness begin to reel her in. Looking to her right, the unstable form of Gaster looked like it was being pulled through from a tiny hole, like a pinprick in the fabric of reality.

She had just enough energy to let out a blood curdling scream and see her determination and magic mix enough to give him a physical form before she passed out.

…

A flood of surprise washed over Gaster.

He was part of the timeline and his body was physically corporeal. Looking up after checking himself over, he found himself trapped inside a large container. He felt the hum of machines through his feet and a familiar black weasel stood before him.

Recognising him immediately, he attempted to break the wall between them. Activating his magic, his bones and blasters would not respond.

"Confused?" The weasel asked, his head cocked mockingly "That chamber will nullify your magic so don't even try to escape. The only way out is for someone outside to help you, and since I am the only one here, you won't be seeing daylight anytime soon."

As he turned his back, Gaster felt the presence of someone else in the room. Looking to his right, he pressed his face to the glass. Lyra hung lifeless from a machine, her limbs disappearing into various parts and a vest and helmet clinging to her body. The blaster pendant glowed around her neck.

 _I need to check her visualante! She's already out cold and I can't use my magic but maybe if I make a link to the pendant outside of the glass, it'll be enough to trigger the display._

Activating his magic, his eyes glowed a vibrant purple. The blaster pendant responded and a small black box appeared in front of her.

His eye lights seemed to shrink to small dots as he gasped.

 _3/60?! She needs healing now or she'll…_

He grimaced.

 _Without her full soul, she can't regenerate enough magic to heal herself!_

He thumped on the glass.

"Dammit!"

"No need to get huffy, it'll be your turn soon." Narsak said quietly as he tapped a few different screens and looked at the results that the projection showed on the wall.

A 'ding' sound caught Gaster's attention again.

2/60.


	12. Chapter 12

2/60.

…

Frisk led the way through the dense trees. They had lost the moon some time ago and Sans' eye along with Toriel's fire had lit the way through the dark foliage of the forest. Since coming to the surface, Frisk's determination had remained unmatched by any other human soul, but since Lyra's soul had been a combination of that and magic, as well as the fact that she had hung around with them long enough, both them and the monsters they called family could sense her anywhere.

As they continued into the darkness, the air was almost humming. The odd wisp of magic would drift on the wind in various colours and would sometimes stain the trees and plants with their hues. The more they progressed, the more Sans felt agitated.

 _I haven't known the kid that long, but she seems nice enough, even if she seems a little…conflicted and her magic's unstable. But I can't help wondering…are we…too late?_

A strong explosion rocked the ground beneath them. They stopped and braced together as another one went off, and then another. Undyne and Papyrus ran on ahead, closely followed by Sans. They soon came to a door, hidden by a wall of vines so thick that they would have missed it if they weren't looking for Lyra. As Sans ran in to open it, Flowey popped out of the ground, his bullets flying towards the skeleton wildly.

He had no time to react before Undyne stepped in to block the shot.

"Hey punk! Mind your aim!" She shouted, taking a defensive stance with a spear in her hand.

"My aim was fine, lady! I don't give warning shots!" He snapped back, raising more bullets.

Toriel's fire magic flared up in a protective wall and Undyne raised her spear, getting ready to attack.

"Wait!" Frisk's voice called from the back of the group.

Everyone hesitated.

They walked through everyone. As they were about to pass Sans, they felt his bony hand on their shoulder. Turning to look at him, he said nothing, but his face was sending the message for them to be careful.

Frisk nodded in confidence, a smile dancing on their lips. Passing the protection of Undyne, she knelt down under the bullets, staring into Flowey's eyes.

"What happened, Asriel?" She said in a low voice. Even though it had been 8 years, she had never had the courage to tell Toriel and Asgore who had truly set them free. "It was you who shattered the barrier, not me. We saved each other, remember? Aren't we friends, Asriel?"

Flowey reacted much the same way as their previous encounter. His vines writhed as he cried out in pain. His body began to grow and his bullets grew larger along with it.

"Aaaaaargh! Get out of my head!" he growled angrily "You aren't the only one with determination anymore!" He began to laugh in a loud screeching way as Frisk covered their ears.

"That's not good, guys!" Undyne shouted back to them.

"Undyne, could you keep him occupied long enough to create an opening?" Sans suggested grabbing Frisk and getting them to safety next to Toriel, several bones hovering in the air as he readied himself.

"Of course! You're looking at the former Captain of the Royal Guard! Who else is better for the job?!" She yelled.

"In that case, you won't be going in alone!" Came a deep booming voice. A trident flew out from the trees, hitting Flowey straight in his right vine-arm.

Flowey let out a howling scream as he pulled the trident out. Everyone looked to the trees to see none other than Asgore, another trident appearing in his hand.

"No! Wait, stop!" Frisk shouted at them both "Please! Don't hurt him!"

Everyone looked at Frisk confused.

"Don't hurt him!" They repeated, stepping forward.

"Frisk! What are you doing?!" Toriel called in worry from behind them, grabbing at their arm in an attempt to stop them

"Let me try…" Frisk begins, unable to finish as she saw Toriel's face. Her eyes were almost screaming for Frisk not to leave. She took a deep breath. "Let me try to talk to him."

Toriel hesitated. She closed her eyes and released Frisk's arm as she watched with sad eyes. She knew they wouldn't fight but…she couldn't help but worry as any mother would as she watched her child walk into danger alone.

Flowey took the chance and launched a volley of bomb-like bullets along with several large, thorny vines. Frisk jumped out of the way and a menu appeared before them.

 _It's been a long time since I've seen this, a little over 8 years in fact._ _I haven't missed it and my soul's trait won't exactly make me forget what I did in the previous resets. But for the sake of my friends, and for Lyra, I have to…STAY DETERMINED!_

She backed up further into the trees, making Flowey inch closer to her in an attempt to lure him slowly away from the entrance to the hidden hideout. Undyne, Alphys, Asgore and Toriel stay to keep an eye on Frisk as Sans, Papyrus and Metatton forced open the door.

As they entered, a large array of lasers blocked their way.

"I have this, brother!" Papyrus said. He ran straight through the orange lasers, since he knew they wouldn't hurt him if he was moving. He went down, power sliding underneath the blue ones since those ones would have hurt if he touched them. Getting to the end, he flipped the switch to disengage them. "Too easy!"

"I wouldn't **laser** -ound too much Pap. We probably still have more to get through."

"Sans! This is not the time for your puns!"

"Hehe. Oh c'mon, you know they **puzzle** you sometimes." Sans replied, running past Papyrus to be met with another obstacle.

"Brother, please! Stop!"

Sans looked down the now seemingly empty corridor. In various parts were holes in the wall and floor. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a small rock. He threw it down the corridor and several swinging blades and large saws blocked the way. Papyrus and Sans looked stunned.

"Well this is a little over the top, even for puzzle master Papyrus!"

"Nonsense darling!" Mettaton said, stepping forward "For me, this is just another night on the dancefloor!"

As he stepped over the first blade with ease, his body seemed to go into a sort of dance mode. His legs and arms seemed to pose, whirl and wind into different positions as he dodged. He was almost at the end when a blade from the ceiling came out nowhere. Surprised, he had no time to dodge.

Sans ACTed fast.

Reaching out with his magic, he turned Mettaton's soul blue, moving him left as the blade swung at him. He wasn't fast enough as the rotating saw went into Mettaton's right arm, slicing off his shoulder guard and making the appendage ooze a black substance. Sans quickly moved him to the end, where he hastily turned the switch off before falling to his knees.


	13. Chapter 13

Sans quickly moved him to the end, where he hastily turned the switch off before falling to his knees. The blades stopped and returned to their respective holes in the walls, ceiling and floor, allowing Papyrus to run through.

"Mettaton! Are you ok?" He called out, his voice a little shaken.

"Y…yes. I just…won't be able to move for a while."

"We can stop and rest-"

"No, we can't." Sans cut in.

"But Sa-"

"It was hard enough to use just that attack. Something is suppressing our magic here and whatever its purpose is might somehow be linked to what's happening to Lyra. We can't stop right now, Papyrus." He said. He hated having to be firm with his little brother, but he wasn't going to regret what he said, even though it may have sounded a little heartless.

Papyrus' face dropped to stare at the floor for a moment.

"P-papyrus." Mettaton said, getting his attention.

"Yes Mettaton."

"I-it's ok. You can come b-back for me. I shouldn't be in any more d-danger for the moment." His words were beginning to glitch from the damage to his systems. "P-please…l-leave me."

His eyes seemed to beg Papyrus as he stared into his eye sockets with a meaningful look.

"I s-s-swear, I'll be f-fi-"

"NO!" He almost shouted out, interrupting Mettaton.

He carefully put one arm under the robot's legs and another under and around his back, picking him up bridal style.

"If you cannot move, I, The Great Papyrus, will ensure that you are as mobile as possible! Nyehehe!"

Mettaton seemed to smile as he turned his body more towards Papyrus.

"We have to go." Sans hurried them up.

"Ready when you are, Sans."

They ran through the corridors, taking on what seemed like countless puzzles until they reached three different doors.

The first was old and rusted. The second was smooth and unscratched, seemingly never used. But the third was odd. The wall next to it had a dried blood stain defacing it's surface as well as what looked like a dent where something had hit it at an odd angle with a fair amount of force behind it.

"Well, this is a dilemma." Sans said, looking at all three doors.

He tried the first…but it didn't budge.

The second opened with ease and he ran in behind Papyrus and Mettaton. To their surprise, the hallway split. Papyrus turned away to the left without even a moment's hesitation. A dead end. They turned to go back the other way, but a door slammed shut behind them.

Sans examined the door, looking for a switch or a gap. After running his finger bones over the newly fixed wall for a few moments, he found nothing.

"Damnit!" Sans shouted at the wall. He looked around the small room for any hatches.

He saw none.

"Guess Plan B it is." Sans waved his hand and a blaster appeared. Shoving his hand forward, it blew a hole in the newly formed wall, giving them an escape route.

…

As Lyra came around again, she realised she was still hanging in the equipment.

 _Of course I'm still here._

It dug into her limbs and she could feel the faint pulsating as her arms and legs slowly oozed with blood. She couldn't even feel them anymore and her head was screaming with a nasty migraine, the left side of it feeling warm as she felt a warm liquid leak from it. It was like everything had gone quiet. Her ears rang so much that she couldn't hear a thing. She felt some kind of vibration behind her that seemed to be happening every so often. As she turned to look, everything shouted out in severe pain.

 _Ok, nice and slow._

She turned her head to look under her arm. She made out a dark lab coat along with a pair of black shoes and the bottom of what looked like a white jumper. The vibrations stopped and the shoes turned towards her. She had just enough strength to take a peek over her shoulder. What she saw would have made her gasp if she'd had the energy.

There, in the glass case, staring intently and worriedly into her eyes was her adoptive father, but he looked different.

 _He…he has a body. I guess…it…it worked._

Her head drooped and her eyes closed as her last bit of energy ran out.

 _I can't…feel….any…thing. So..w..w…weak._

She heard the distant sound of a blaster going off but hadn't the strength to open her eyes. She only heard the sound of Narsak cursing loudly before the loud thumping of his clawed feet running through the halls filled her hearing, the humming of the machines that were still on driving her insane.

 _I….i'm…..d….dy…..dying….Someone…ANYONE…he..lp…..me._

…

Gaster watched as she closed her eyes. The loss of blood looked to be taking its toll as her health was nearing zero.

 _I have to ACT fast!_

Turning around, he felt around for a panel inside the machine. Finding one under his feet, he pulled off the cover. Inside was a mess of wires. There were red, blue, green, yellow, brown and purple cables all connected between two different circuit boards.

 _The brown cable is the earth and the green and yellow wires are live ones. Which means it has to be either the red or purple one._

Looking up again, he didn't have time to waste as Lyra's health was dwindling on 1HP. He pulled both the red and purple cables and the case around him lowered in response, the vibration under his feet stopping. Summoning bones, he destroyed the parts of the machines holding up Lyra, letting a blaster finish the job as it made a smoky pile out of the console on the wall. He managed to catch her and lower her to the ground where he removed the remaining machinery. Handling her delicately, he laid her flat as he called on his magic. A low purple glow emanated from his hands as he felt her slowing heartbeat beneath his hands.

"Hold on, my child. Please…" he closed his eyes "…hold on for me."


	14. Chapter 14

…

She was drifting in the darkness.

 _So faint…so…weak._

Her mind was blank and she felt her life slipping away into the blackness…that was before she felt a hand grasp around hers. She felt the darkness being chased away as a light appeared. She felt the hand pull her towards the light as she was unable use her legs, drifting in the empty space. The light surrounded her and before she knew it, she was slowly, and heavily, opening her eyes.

Everything was fuzzy for a few moments before she groaned and her sight came into focus. She felt her strength slowly returning, her wounds closing up as she felt a slight hum from her stomach. Looking down, she saw Gaster looking back at her, his eyes aglow with a gentle purple. She let the edge of her lips curl up in a kind smirk before she closed her eyes again.

She rested her body, unmoving as she focused on her breathing, making sure not to fall asleep, feeling that if she did, she wouldn't wake up again. She felt the vibrations of distant blasters going off and the grind of crumpling metal. The room would shake every so often, causing several alarms to come on but she couldn't hear them. Her hearing was still out as she opened her eyes again.

…

Gaster checked her visualante again. 10/60. It wasn't much but it was better than her worrying situation earlier. He had tried asking her how she felt but got no response. Noticing bloody trails coming from both her ears, he moved his healing magic up to examine and repair them. Working it into her head, he felt her ruptured eardrums.

 _No wonder she didn't reply._

He looked into her eyes as she opened them again, looking down soon after with a sad look.

She raised a hand, touching his face so gently that he barely registered her touch. She smiled weakly, her eyes dull from her lack of magic, determination and overall energy.

 _She's totally exhausted. And who can blame her. She just had all her essential life essences drained from her to pull me back. Not only that_ …

He looked down at his healing hands.

… _she managed to form my body fully and keep it in a stable state._

He leaned into her hand, hiding his sorrow with a brave smile.

Sans and Papyrus ran through the door, the younger of the two running to assist Gaster with his healing. She didn't even know they were there until the younger skeleton's skull popped into her field of vision, saying something she couldn't hear before looking up at Gaster.

"Why doesn't she respond?!" Papyrus almost yelled at Gaster, the shake in his voice evident as he held back tears. He had a slight look of confusion on his face as he looked at the older skeleton.

"Her eardrums are ruptured and her motor functions aren't working. She needs more than healing magic, she needs medical attention!" He said, looking up at his confused face "And my name is W. ."

Papyrus blinked away the tears.

 _This stranger…he seems a little brash and rough around the edges. But he also seems vaguely familiar. Like I've seen him in a dream._

They didn't have time to think as alarms went off again, an automatic voice announcing through the speakers.

"REACTOR OVERLOAD. PLEASE EVACUATE THE FACILITY. I REPEAT. REACTOR OVERLOAD. PLEASE EVACUATE THE FACILITY. LOCKDOWN WILL BEGIN SHORTLY."

"We have to leave." Sans said, turning to the door, only to stop in shock. "You again!"

Narsak stooped into the doorway, one paw-like hand on the frame as his opposite shoulder hung out of place.

Gaster checked Lyra's visualante once more before he stopped healing "Sans, get behind me."

 _How did he…_

His thought was cut off as seven hands appeared in the air, each one a colour matching one of the seven souls that were used to break the barrier 10 years ago. He quickly rushed behind Gaster, slipping a hand under Lyra's back to help her sit up. She was shivering hard even though her body felt boiling. Quickly laying her down again, he gently wrapped his jacket around her.

"You're not getting away that easily. And my pet stays with me!" Narsak roared, letting out a stream of jet black flames from his mouth, engulfing the room as he stepped into the room again.

Gaster brought forward the green hand, creating a bubble-like shield before the automated messaging system announced another message:

"LOCKDOWN PROGRESSING. DT-MP LEAK DETECTED IN SECTOR 1. PLEASE CLEAR THE FACILITY. I REPEAT. PLEASE CLEAR THE FACILITY."

Narsak was taken by surprise at the announcement. He looked torn as he heard the door begin to seal shut behind him.

 _Shit! Do I try_ _to escape or attempt to grab her and run? Either way, I don't have much time to decide._

The expression in his eyes changed as he briskly turned to leave…before feeling a shot of pain run through his back.

"Aargh!" he shouted in pain, leaning on the wall more as he turned to find his back scorched from a blast attack.

Before he could stare down his attacker, his eyes locked on where Lyra's body lay shivering on the floor. Sans slowly backed away as the swarming mix of leaking magic and determination seemed to magnetise to her body. He barely had enough time to call out to Gaster before the taller skeleton turned to watch her disappear before his eye sockets.


	15. Chapter 15

Her head was spinning and her stomach threatened to let go as she grimaced in pain, writhing around as it felt like hundreds upon thousands of tiny needles pricked her skin. She was warm and then cold, screaming out as she grasped at air, struggling to breathe. Sound slowly made its way back into her senses and it overwhelmed her a little as a breath of cold wind whipped at her face.

Pulling on her magic, she felt no response from the empty reservoir.

 _Everything aches._

 _Everything…hurts._

 _Where…where..am I?_

 _Everything…feels cold…and heavy._

 _Metal?...No…..Stone._

As the pain died down, she slowly tried opened her eyes. The relentless sunlight above stung her eyes as she tried her best to keep them open. Her efforts were in vain as she closed them again, her body shouting at her as she tried to move her limbs.

"Oh my! Are you alright, my child?" Came a gentle voice. It seemed to echo around her, making it hard to pinpoint its location. She remained quiet, her voice gone from the earlier screaming, looking away as she felt a pair of large, soft hands take her into their arms. She didn't hear much more from the gentle, worried voice before she fell asleep from the gentle rocking as it walked.

When she awoke again, she felt soft covers and a pillow under her head. As she moved she felt her body covered in bandages on the parts where the machinery had earlier held her in place. Her clothes were gone and she began to feel the discomfort of pain set in again.

It was oddly quiet before the smell of pastry and stew wafted into the room. Her stomach growled in response when she realised it had been a while since she had last eaten. Trying to move, she got a minimal response as her fingers and toes twitched and bent but her legs and arms would not. Her attempts were interrupted when she heard a door open, her eyes opening sharply before she regretted it, wincing.

 _Ow! Shouldn't…shouldn't h-have done that._

"My child, do you feel any better?" The soft voice came again, helping her to sit up as she grimaced silently from the pain. When she was sitting up fully, she nodded slowly in response, her voice still broken. A rush of warmth ran through her entire body before the pain in her arms and legs seemed to numb.

Attempting to open her eyes again, she slowly opened her lids to be greeted by the sight of Toriel. She looked thinner and her fur looked whiter than when she had seen it a few moments ago.

 _How long was I out? Did they build a new house without me?_

The goat lady got up and paused by the door.

"You must be hungry. I've prepared some stew for you and some pie that should be cool enough to eat after dinner."

She looked at the floor, unable to say anything. It was only then that she realised that one of her eyes wasn't seeing anything. Reaching up slowly, she felt bandages around her left eye. A slight amount of pressure was enough to realise something was very wrong. The pain exploded out into her skull and she flopped backwards onto the bed again. Letting go, she once again felt the pull of sleep. She heard the door open again and tried to fight the urge, but failed in her attempts, falling into the nothingness of her dreams.

She didn't notice the flower that had appeared in the corner of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

She awoke to the sound of crackling firewood, a comfortable warmth filling the room. She found herself able to sit up on her own, a few aches and pains giving her trouble as she finally managed to get out of the bed. Her legs were shaky at first as she stumbled to the door, leaning on the wall to keep her from falling. It took all her effort for her to not let her legs give in.

 _Damn him. Damn him! DAMN HIM!_

She cursed under her breath as she walked out of the open bedroom door, tripping a little as she slowly made her way down the short corridor and into what looked like a living room.

Toriel must have heard her heavily exhausted footsteps as she caught her when her legs gave in.

"Oh my. You are not fully healed yet. You must rest, my child."

 _NO._

She shook her head like her life depended on it, using what little energy she had. Toriel seemed to understand as she brought her to sit by the fireplace instead of back to her room. Placing her down in the armchair, she walked over to the other side of the room and picked up her now clean shirt. She also brought over a pair of underwear and a freshly made pair of dark blue jeans, which she had washed and dried by the fire earlier. She slipped the shirt gently over her shoulders and helped her step into the underwear and jeans.

"You passed out before dinner. Would you like me to heat up some food for you? You must be famished." She said, kind eyes boring holes into her already unsteady confidence.

She nodded slowly, letting her weak body settle into the armchair and get lost in its soft and squishy fabric. As Toriel returned to the kitchen, she took the time to look around. The living room was like any you might expect. A few books, a neat rug by the fireplace, a few typha plants, though the filed down tools by the fireplace confused her.

Toriel came back after a few moments with what looked like a bowl of soup. Sniffing the air, she took in it's mellow aroma. She handed the bowl to her and she looked down in confusion. There were many small objects in it that she had never seen before. Some were orange and some were green. There were even some small yellow ones. Unsure of what they were, she looked up at Toriel questioningly.

"Oh! I see. This is vegetable soup, my child. I was going to make you my favourite, snail pie, but I know that humans aren't so fond of eating snails. Also, in your injured state, I thought it best for you to have something easier to digest." She explained, handing Lyra a spoon.

Dipping the spoon into the liquid, she scooped up one of the orange vegetables and looked up at Toriel again, who looked down at her with a smile. "That's a piece of carrot." She seemed to understand as Lyra pointed to the green vegetable in the bowl. "That's a piece of celery." She pointed to the final one, the yellow shape "And that's a piece of potato." She smiled as she watched Lyra blow on the spoonful of liquid before placing it in her mouth.

She gasped in surprise as a gentle warmth of flavour washed throughout her entire being. Rushing to eat more, she spooned mouthful after mouthful of the tasty liquid into her mouth until it was all gone.

The day went on much the same way.

Toriel would follow her around, sometimes sitting down to watch and talk about things she discovered. It wasn't long before she went too close to the entrance to the basement leading out of the ruins.

"No, no, my child! You mustn't go down there. You might catch cold!" She warned, a forced smile on her face as she took Lyra's hand and pulled her gently towards the bedroom she had come out of earlier. "I think you need some more rest. You can explore more in the morning. I'll even take you on a walk through the ruins. Would you like that?"

Lyra thought a moment on what had just happened, almost missing Toriel's question. The gentle expression that changed into a worried frown on the goat mother's face snapped her back to her senses as she nodded. Toriel left her to her thoughts as she snuggled into the sheets.

In the darkness, Lyra turned and seemed to stare at the wall for what seemed like hours. Her body was exhausted but her mind kept ticking over lick a restless clock. She thought back to everything that had happened to her.

The experiments.

The escape.

The adoption into the family…

…and now her feelings of separation from them.

She had been thrown into the past, or what seemed like it. Everything about the house they were in was different, and she never remembered there being a red tree outside. Not to mention, the sky did not glisten the way it did down here. Toriel had called this place "the Underground" and thinking back, she did remember something like that being said when she had overheard Sans and Grillby talking accidentally.

 _Why am I here? What exactly happened to send me back here? And…will me being here affect the events of the future I came from?_

All the thinking eventually began to give her a headache, the number of unanswered questions constantly growing in her head.

 _Tomorrow, I think I will take a walk around the ruins. I need time to think alone._

(The following morning…)

Toriel awoke softly, rubbing her eyes. The silence of the house greeted her as she slipped on her purple and white dress and exited her room. Going to Lyra's door, she knocked.

"Are you awake, little one?" she asked, waiting.

No response. She began to worry, knocking again.

"My child?" She asked again.

Still nothing.

Worry got the better of her as she frisked open the door. **(A/N and yes…I did just make that pun)**. The lights were off and the bed was made, with Lyra nowhere to be seen.

"Child! Where are you?" She called through the house, hoping for a response.

As she quickly made her way into the living room, a piece of paper on the table by her armchair caught her eye. Picking it up, she saw the untidy scribbles that could only belong to a child's unpractised hand. It read:

'Hello Toriel.

I was up early and thought I'd take a walk around the ruins to clear my head a bit. I will be back later, so do not worry. I would like to talk to you about something but this will give me the time to think about how to tell you. See you this evening.

L.'

Toriel stared at the paper, reading it several times before sighing deeply. She collapsed into her chair by the then ashen cold fireplace as a smile danced at her lips.

"Back later, huh? You certainly are a slippery one."

 **Sorry for the looooooong wait for the update guys. Medical issues and life in general got in the way but hopefully, I can begin to upload a little more frequently than every few MONTHS! Until next time….stay frosty out there. I mean, it is winter after all.**


	17. Chapter 17

Her body seemed lighter and less achy than before. Lifting the neck of her top, she saw the bruising that had been left by the incident at the lab was barely visible, a faint yellow patch left behind where it used to be. It felt tender as she felt the scarred skin through the thin fabric, the cuts that Narsak had made still a pale pink. Just the thought of his name brought flashes of what had happened back at his lab, holding the side of her head as the sudden burst of noises in her head made her dizzy.

 _Everything is so messed up._

As she thought to herself, she saw a room full on panels on the floor with holes on them and a pool of water underneath that showed on either side. Taking a hesitant step over one of the holes, she moved over it after noting that nothing happened. She spied a down pressed lever on a wall on the opposite side of the room and tried pulling it back up once she was there. Spikes came through the holes and filled the room with a menacing metallic sheen which she decided to steer clear of. Going further back, she found a sign that said "the western room is the eastern room's blueprint". Frowning at it a moment, she figured it out once she looked at the floor ahead of her, smirking and shrugged before leaving.

Passing through what seemed to be a dark hallway, she walked past what looked like a training dummy.

 _The more I explore this place, the more I am questioning the variations of monster. Is it even a monster, or just a dummy?_

Before she could answer, a frog-looking monster hopped in front of her. It seemed to be scowling at her but after a double take, she saw an additional set of eyes near what looked to be its legs. She didn't have time to gawk as weird looking white flies appeared in the air. She felt uneasy as a shiver ran up her spine, warning her of the danger. She was about to move out of the way when the white, fly-like objects stopped in their tracks. The frog-like monster cocked it's head to the side, as if it was thinking about something before it simply hopped away.

 _What in the hell? Why didn't it finish his attack?_

Shrugging the questions off for now, she continued into the ruins. She wasn't bothered by any other monster but they gave her questioning looks before going about their own business or hiding in small spaces to get away from her. All of the possible traps that could have hindered her progress were all deactivated so she simply kept walking, taking note of where the levers were. But something still didn't seem right.

 _This is strange. Why aren't they attacking?_

She kept walking until she reached a bed of flowers, which she remembered feeling beneath her fingers before her then useless body was picked up by Toriel. Reaching down, she picked one, looking at it with curiosity.

"Jeez, you look like you've never seen a flower before." Rang a voice through the cavern.

She spun, looking around as she looked for the source of the voice. Her eyes finally found what looked to be a larger flower with a face. She looked at it a moment and then back to the flower before answering.

"I…I haven't. I've only ever seen bushes and t-trees. I have only ever seen flowers in books…b-but n-none like this one." She said, looking over the small yet pretty flower.

"How could you have not seen flowers? You're a human ain'tcha?" He asked almost matter-of-factly. It was like he expected her to know.

She kept looking at the flower as she sighed deeply before replying with two quiet words.

"N…not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The flower replied.

She didn't grace him with a response.

"Hey, I asked you a question!" He blurted out.

She tore her eyes away from the buttercup and glared at the talking flower, making him grimace.

"Who are you?" She asked, sensing the danger beneath the seemingly innocent and petalled façade. She stayed calm and collected but had her magic at the ready.

"I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower." He said before adding with a darker and more menacing tone "YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!"

Without warning, his magical bullets appeared in the air. As they quickly neared, she rolled to dodge them, swiftly making her way closer to him as vines began to shoot out at her. As she got close enough, a series of vines shot out to grab her but she continued forward at speed before disappearing into a sudden flash of red.

Flowey gasped as he felt a small, strong hand grab his stem from behind and yank him out of the ground. She roughly turned him around and scowled at him.

"Let me get…just one thing straight with you, Petals. I am not scared of you. I am not afraid to hurt you if you threaten me. Do it again and I will make sure to make your life hell. Are we clear?" She asked, boring holes into his sole with her hard glare.

"C-c-crystal." He managed to stutter out before she dropped him and he scurried away under the earth.

Taking a deep breath, she sat down on the flowers, flopping to lie back on the soft bed of nature. She soon found herself looking up into the sun and sighing.

 _A life in the sun seems so far now. How do I tell Toriel what I am? I know she'll understand but I don't want to share this with more people than I need to. I can't exactly go running off to find more monsters in the Underground, that's just stupid. My magic can't protect me from that many opponents so maybe…I should call this home for a while._

 _I think just telling her my future intentions is the best way to go._


End file.
